Season Two of the educational reality TV show, “The Challengeâ€Â, which is being organized to give Ghanaian university graduates the opportunity to study under postgraduate scholarships at three leading universities in the United Kingdom (UK), has been launched in Accra.
The launching ceremony was performed by Alhaji Muntaka Mubarak, Minister of Youth and Sports, at the British Council Hall in Accra.
Speaking at the ceremony the Minister noted that The Challenge educational show gave expression to important aspects of what the youth aspired for in terms of education and job opportunities as well as the aspiration to excel among their peers.
The education of the youth, he said, should open up good employment opportunities and give them incentives to take education seriously.
Alhaji Mubarak said young people constituted the most socially active and energetic segment of the population of every country and as such their energy, creativity and dynamism were among society’s most productive assets which had to be harnessed effectively for development.
Twenty-four candidates were selected from the huge number of applicants out of which 12 candidates were shortlisted to participate in the TV reality show.
The 12 finalists would receive extensive personal and professional development training and compete against each other in a series of weekly tests, debates, tasks and quiz in management, leadership and creativity.
The ultimate winner gets a full postgraduate scholarship from the University of Westminster valued at £40,000, including fully paid accommodation in an international students’ hostel, a monthly living allowance, a return air ticket to the UK valid for one year and a new laptop computer.
On completion of the postgraduate course the ultimate prize winner will return to Ghana to pick up a pre-arranged lucrative job placement and a brand new car.
The two runners-up will receive one year postgraduate scholarships and accommodation from London Metropolitan and Thames Valley Universities. In addition, they will receive return air tickets and living allowance.
A fourth candidate would receive a scholarship from IPMC to study a postgraduate ICT related programme administered jointly by IPMC and Greenwich University.
By George Clifford Owusu