The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) will no longer provide scholarships for children of cocoa farmers in Senior High Schools due to the free SHS programme.
The scholarship scheme, which has been running for over 50 years, will be replaced with the Cocoa Board Education Trust, aimed at providing essential primary school infrastructure in under-served cocoa-growing communities, the board has announced.
“With the advent of the free SHS by the Akufo-Addo administration, it’s time for us to adapt and evolve.
The COCOBOD Scholarship Scheme, while it is a notable and valuable programme, has naturally lost its core purpose,” the chairman of the board, Peter Mac Manu justified.
The chairman also noted that the Cocoa Board Education Trust is a testament to the board’s unwavering commitment to the prosperity and well-being of cocoa farmers and their children.
“As we bid farewell to the Scholarship Scheme, we must look forward and prioritize the continued educational advancement of the cocoa farming community. It’s with this vision that the board of directors has decided to establish the Ghana Cocoa Board Education Trust.
This trust is a testament to our unwavering commitment to the prosperity and well-being of cocoa farmers and their children. The primary objective of the Education Trust is clearly to focus on providing essential primary school infrastructure in under-served cocoa growing areas,” he said.
It will be recalled that during the cocoa farmers’ rally at Kokobeng in the Akim Swedru district in 2019, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Mr Joseph Boahen Aidoo hinted that the board is planning to channel funds, set aside for its Farmers Scholarship Trust for beneficiaries entering senior high schools (SHS), into developing school infrastructure for needy communities.
The CEO indicated that with the introduction of the free SHS, there was no longer the need for the fund to continue paying school fees, thus the decision to now channel that money into another profitable use within the education sector.