Papaye rewards brilliant pupils

As part of its corporate social responsibilities, Papaye Fast Foods, the house hold name in tasty and lip smacking dishes, last week rewarded a total number of 810 brilliant pupils who excelled academically in their end of term examinations to motivate them to study hard.

The beneficiaries were selected from 30 basic schools in the Greater Accra Region.

The occasion marked the 8th annual award ceremony dubbed; “Our Day Special” which was held at the Spintex Road branch of Papaye in Accra.

The award ceremony brought together many teachers and pupils from schools such as Crown Prince Academy, Most Holy Heart School, St. John School, Soul Clinic and Kaneshie Presbyterian School, amongst others.

In an address delivered by the Executive Chairman of Papaye, Mr. Samir Kalmoni, he said his outfit found it refreshing in contributing to the development of the educational sector.

He added that pupils who have excelled academically in their various schools needed to be motivated in order to encourage them to study hard.

“Indeed, organizing an award ceremony of this magnitude illustrates our sincere contribution to the development of the educational sector and a positive social responsibility.

…We have again assembled here to celebrate the achievements of our children who have excelled academically and it is for this reason that Papaye deemed it fit to honour these children in order to spur them on to work hard in their schools,” Mr. Kalmoni disclosed.

He further revealed that over the years, his outfit has not only promoted the educational sector of the country but has also employed over 350 staff in all its branches.

This, he said, is the mark of being a good corporate citizen.

Mr. Kalmoni announced that four of the beneficiaries in the final year, who are Junior High School (JHS) pupils, will be sponsored all the way to the Senior High School (SHS) level.

He also advised the award winners to refrain from social vices such as theft, pre-marital sex but rather work hard to soar to greater heights.

In a remark, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Papaye, Mr. Divine Asiedu, stated that since the first edition of the award which was launched in 1997, Papaye has made it a policy to contribute immensely towards the development of education by motivating pupils to aspire to greater heights.

He revealed that the food company spends an average of GH¢ 45,000 annually to reward deserving pupils.

Mr. Asiedu assured the general public that his outfit will not relent in its effort to give school children a bright educational future.

“We however will not relent on our efforts to help churn our reliable and responsible future leaders for our nation but will continue to give our children the physical, emotional, and moral support in their education alongside tuition from hardworking teachers and parents,” he emphasised.

CEO of Papaye also commended the award winners and urged them to give off their very best in school.

In her address, the Director of Pre- Tertiary Education, at the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mrs. Mary Quaye, on her part, commended Papaye for playing such a significant role in the development of the country’s education.

She was confident that such initiatives could help motivate school children to perform well in school which will in the long run produce quality human resource.

Mrs. Quaye called on other corporate bodies to join Papaye in their quest to help improve education in Ghana since government cannot do that alone.