The Chairman of the Ghana Education Service (GES) Council, Michael Nsowah, has said that the Onga Cook Arts and other cooking competitions are laudable platforms as they help to uncover students' practical skills.

According to him, parents do well to send their wards to school, but most of the time, they do not get to see their wards put what they learn into practice.

He thus commended the organisers of the Onga Cook Arts competition. He spoke at the grand finale of Onga Cook Arts held at Labone Senior High School in Accra.

"This competition shows all the things that children learn in school that the public don't get to see. They mostly do written exams, but when it comes to competitions like these, you get the feeling of what these children are learning... The questions they answered and the food they prepared indicate their knowledge of what food does to the body, and that is fantastic," he said.

 Mr. Nsowah further emphasized that GES has integrated practical tests into the curriculum for all disciplines. He stated that GES implemented this initiative in order to ensure students leave school with more than just academic knowledge but also skills that will benefit them in the future.

He also encouraged other companies to support the Onga Cook Art Competition, as it will help build and sharpen the skills of students for the country’s benefit.

"I will encourage other establishments to also sponsor some of these things, just like one of the judges, who is a world-renowned chef said, every year he picks something to add to the menu of the hotel where he works. That is very fantastic," he said.

All too soon, the 2023 ONGA Cook Art Competition has come to an end. Out of the four schools that competed in the finale, Notre Dame SHS emerged as the winner.

They went home with a trophy, gold medals, a cash prize of Ghc 20,000, and some goodies from Onga and Cowbell.

Yaa Anstewaa Girls’ SHS, Apam SHS, and Sefwi Bekwai SHS came second, third, and fourth respectively.

They also went home with goodies from the sponsors of the competition, Onga and Cowbell.