The Dominion Leaders Foundation (DLF), a non-profit organisation focused on youth empowerment, had scaled up its guidance and counselling programmes in basic schools across the Cape Coast Metropolis.
This initiative, particularly targeted students preparing for the Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE), providing them with essential occupational interest profiling and comprehensive career guidance sessions.
It also provided mentorship, study skills workshops, and emotional support to help them navigate exam stress and explore future opportunities.
It was to help address key gaps in Ghana’s education system, where many students, mostly BECE candidates, faced high-stakes pressure without adequate academic and psychological guidance, leading to dropout rates, anxiety and underperformance.
By equipping pupils with resilience tools and clear pathways to secondary education and beyond, the Foundation did not only seek to improve students’ pass rates but also foster long-term leadership qualities in them.
Each student received a 134-page Career Guidance Book, authored by Mrs Martha Annang and forwarded by Professor Josephus Anamuah-Mensah, an Educationist who had also sponsored the engagement for his alma mater.
The book offered practical insights into career paths, helping students align their interests with viable opportunities.
The engagement commenced at Jubilee Junior School for 40 BECE candidates where Ms Martha Annang, the Executive Director of the Foundation, stated that essential career guidance tools were critical for self-motivation and awareness to shape their future.
Addressing the pupils on the theme and title of her book: “Don’t wait till you fail in life,” Mrs Annang urged them to write down their ambitions and pursue self-motivating, legal and income-driven jobs to sustain their livelihoods.
She introduced the Holland Code like realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising and conventional traits to help students identify their strengths.
Such traits emphasised human purpose as positively impacting lives while avoiding social misdeeds like theft or violence, she explained and shared her own story of how she disliked mathematics in school, failed initially, but self-studied to pass the exam eventually.
Ms Annang noted that the benefits of determination included resilience against failure, better decision-making and long-term fulfilment.
She urged the students to choose paths that motivated them intrinsically to help them generate income.
A beneficiary, Master John Boadu Amuah, shared his takeaway lessons, saying that he had just discovered his artistic talent and had now been empowered to explore creative fields like music or designing with passion.
Some students highlighted their fascinating aspirations, with one saying he was already earning some income as a drummer in his church’s team and planned to become a drummer.
Another student confirmed that he also got paid weekly as a disc jockey, showcasing early entrepreneurial spirit.
Mr Vincent Ofori, the Head Teacher of Jubilee School, called for the urgent deployment of professional guidance and counselling coordinators in every basic school across the country.
He such roles were essential to address the growing mental health and developmental challenges facing young students.