Perseus Mining Ghana Limited is spending a total of Gh₵17,500 in scholarships to 26 students to support and improve education levels in its project impacted communities.

The company is awarding Gh₵500 to each of the 17 second cycle students and Gh₵1,000 to each of the nine tertiary students, in fulfilment of its corporate social responsibility.

A donation of about 9,840 books and other learning materials has also been made to schools in the project districts, especially within the Upper Denkyira West District of Central region.

Chief Operations Officer of Perseus Mining, Jon Yelland, says the corporate offices of Perseus is working with educational institutions in Australia to put together educational materials for distribution among schools in the project districts.

He says the books would be beneficial to all levels of education – from nursery through to junior high and senior high.

“As part of the arrangements, the company agreed to bear the cost of collecting the materials and shipment which cost the company about Gh₵250,000. These two activities; the scholarship awards and book donations are indicative of the company’s commitment to ensure that the youth are well educated and positioned to play leading roles not only in their communities, but also to mother Ghana,” he stated.

Perseus is venturing the Ghanaian mining industry at a time world market price of gold has gone down while cost of production keeps rising. The industry has suffered commercial losses and mining companies in Ghana are being forced to lay-off some of their workers.

“Inspite of these current challenges, we continue to honour our social responsibility to our partner communities and what we expect from our communities is the peaceful atmosphere that will allow us to continue to support community development initiatives. We therefore crave your patience and understanding as we go through these difficult times,” pleaded Mr. Yelland.

He says Perseus as a company will continue to explore opportunities that will open up the space for the youth to become useful to themselves and to their communities.

The firm is already supporting 90 students to undergo vocational and technical training at the Kumasi technical institute. An additional 76 youth have been trained in four skill areas – Carpentry, Masonry, Plumbing and Electricals.

District Chief Executive for Upper Denkyira West, Ambrose Amoah Ashia, has commended the complementary role of the mining firm to government’s educational improvement agenda.

“The only way to remove poverty is to chart the path of education,” he observed. “If you observed, the most under developed areas are places where majority are not educated.”  

The DCE pleaded with the company to ensure the timely delivery of the scholarships since they are tied to time periods of schooling.