The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has offered a full scholarship to 2021 WASSCE graduate, Stephen Koomson, a former student of Mpohor Senior High School who resorted to illegal mining amid a lack of financial support to further his education.
The Petroleum Corporation in a post on Social Media said the 21-year-old has been granted a full educational scholarship to study Law at the University of Ghana in a bid to pursue his dream to become a lawyer.
“The brilliant 21-year-old former student of Mpohor Senior High School in the Western Region who, for financial constraints, resorted to illegal mining (Galamsey) instead of furthering his education, has been granted a full educational scholarship by GNPC to study Law at the University of Ghana,” the Corporation said in the media post.
The GNPC educational scholarship comes after Koomson’s story went viral on social media. He recorded an impressive 5As and 3Bs across various subjects in the 2021 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
In a discussion with the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, the WASSCE graduate said his involvement in small-scale illegal mining commonly known as Galamsey is amid a lack of support which has curtailed his education.
At a brief meeting with the illegal miner and his guardians, the Executive Director of the GNPC Foundation, Dr Dominic Eduah, described Stephen’s circumstance as an “unfortunate situation deserving immediate attention” and hence, his outfit’s intervention
“We are enrolling him on the GNPC scholarship immediately to put his dreams of becoming a lawyer back on track, and we are just as excited to offer him an opportunity to facilitate this in consonance with the tenets of our Education & Training mandate,” he said.
The Executive Director added that GNPC, in collaboration with other relevant stakeholders, have set in motion plans to ensure 21-year-old Stephen Koomson gains admission into the University of Ghana Law School next academic year.
Reacting to the gesture of the National Petroleum Corporation, an emotional Koomson expressed his profound gratitude to GNPC for acting on his story to ensure the life and future he envisioned as a boy becomes a reality.
