Yinson Ghana, in collaboration with the Ahanta West Directorate of Ghana Education Service, has held the second annual Yinson Reading and Spelling Bee Competition at Agona Nkwanta in the Ahanta West Municipality of the Western Region.
Themed ‘Reading, the Solid Foundation for Quality Education’, the competition saw a total of 60 students from all five educational circuits – Abura, Agona, Apowa, Dixcove and Ewusiejoe –participating, ranging from kindergarten, lower and upper primary through to the Junior High School level.
Yinson provided over 100 storybooks to participating students, with the winner of each category receiving two storybooks each. Also, each contestant received a certificate of participation and each school received an appreciation plaque.
Dominic Arthur from Neka Municipal Assembly Junior High School won at the JHS boys’ category while Corrie Lynn Boateng of Abura Municipal Assembly Basic School won the JHS girls’ category. By winning, they have automatically qualified for the Yinson Scholars Programme if they could achieve a minimum aggregate of 24 points in the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).
The scholarship covers termly stipends, provisions, pillows, trunks, chop boxes, shoes, scientific calculators, mattresses as well as textbooks, among others, for three years in Senior High School (SHS).
Yinson Ghana Corporate Social Responsibility Coordinator, Edward Mensah, said: “Yinson believes in unearthing the potentials of the students in its host communities, hence, the investment in education in the communities. The reading and spelling competition have been initiated to help shape the thoughts of students through positive educational materials and improve the vocabulary of the students to help them achieve good grades in their examination”.
He shared the importance of reading with the students and encouraged them to read as many books as they could to be able to spell new words and have the confidence to express themselves.
George Effah, Ahanta West Municipal Director of Education, praised Yinson for its continuous support in its catchment area.
Daniel Payne, Basic School Coordinator at the Ahanta West Municipality, said the competition is not only to inculcate the habit of reading among the students, but also to prepare them for the future.
Comfort Terpetey, who spoke for the Municipal Chief Executive, expressed appreciation to Yinson for its continuous support in education over the years.
Yinson’s CSR
One of Yinson’s core CSR missions is to promote quality education and effective learning for all. The annual Yinson Reading and Spelling Bee Competition is a municipal-wide initiative that aims to cultivate the habit of reading and improve the examination results of students in the Ahanta West Municipality. Among previous educational-focused initiatives include the building of a library in the Kejebril Municipal Assembly Basic School in 2021.The library is aimed to support literacy, promote life-long learning, and serve as a community gathering space for children to interact with one another.
Yinson used the occasion to donate 600 books, covering subjects such as Science, English, Mathematics, Information and Communications Technology, Literature, and storybooks to the library in the kejebril Municipal Assembly (MA) School.
Kejebril MA emerged as the overall winner of the Spelling Bee competition at the Junior High School level. Sarah Dick, Headmistress of the school attributed the winning of the competition to the library Yinson had provided in the school. She emphasised that Yinson’s investment in the school is yielding dividends.
