Three young ladies emerged the top three students in last year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in the La Nkwantanang Madina Municipal’s Independence Day Best Student awards.

Miss Dora Opoku Pokuaa, a former student of Hannah School Complex and currently at Aburi Girls Secondary School, emerged first with Nine-Ones and a raw score of 545.

Nadia Korkor Tetteh, formerly of Pentecost Junior High School and now at Wesley Girls Senior High School, came second with Eight-Ones and 536 raw score, followed by Ama Dansoa Addo-Brako a former student of St. Andrews Junior High School who is now at Achimota Senior High School. She had Eight-Ones and 519 score.

They were awarded with certificates of honour and presented with undisclosed cash prizes to serve as a motivation and example to students in the Municipality.

Mrs Jennifer Dede Afagbedzi, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), commended the students for their outstanding performance and urged other students to strive for excellence in their academic pursuit.

She said government has introduced various policies and programmes in the educational sector such as the Free Senior High School (Free SHS), as a means to increase enrollment in schools.

“The Free Senior High School programme has tremendously increased enrolment in our Senior High Schools, currently, there are over a million students who are in the system. This clearly shows that government is indeed committed to improving education in the country”.

The MCE advised parents to be concerned about the education of their wards saying, “Education is the best legacy you can live to your children for a successful future”.

Mrs Afagbedzi said the Independence Day celebration is a day for citizens to reflect and adopt the spirit of patriotism in all they do and contribute to nation-building.

Madam Angela Nkansah Fremponmaa, Municipal Director of Education, said the best student award is a ceremony done annually to reward students who excel in their BECE exams in the Municipal.

She said 4,333 students sat for the exams last year, out of which majority of them passed and are in Senior High Schools and other second cycle institutions, adding that, education in the Municipality has improved over the years with more children in public schools.

There was also a parade of cadets from ten schools and other students from fourteen basic schools in the Municipality and other organizational unions, such as the Drivers and Market Women Union.

In the cadet category, Faith Community Baptist School emerged best cadet followed by Green Hill International School and National Community Vocational Institute.

In the schools category, Emmanuel Presby School emerged best, followed by Madina ‘3’ M/A Junior High School and Pantang M/A Junior High School.

The event was graced by Mr Abubakar Sadique Boniface, Member of Parliament for Madina Constituency; Nii Kotei Dzor 1, Chief of La Nkwantanang; Chief Superintendent Cosmos Alan Anyan, Madina Divisional Police Commander; and Mr Francis Kwaku Asiedu, Municipal Chief Director.