Two Ghanaian students named in the top 50 shortlist for $100,000 Chegg.Org Global Student Prize 2023

Two students studying in Ghana, have been included in the top 50 shortlist for the Chegg.org Global Student Prize 2023, an annual $100,000 award to be given to one exceptional student that has made a real impact on learning, the lives of their peers and on society beyond.

Paul Amanor, a 28-year-old law student at Central University Ghana, Accra, and Kezia Sanie, a 23-year-old law student at Ghana School of Law, Accra, were selected from 3,851 applications from 122 countries.

The Varkey Foundation partnered with Chegg.org to launch the annual Global Student Prize in 2021, a sister award to its $1 million Global Teacher Prize. The intention was to create a powerful new platform that shines a light on the efforts of extraordinary students everywhere who, together, are reshaping our world for the better. The prize is open to all students who are at least 16 years old and enrolled in an academic institution or training and skills program. Part-time students as well as students enrolled in online courses are also eligible for the prize.

FEED also hosted several workshops and seminars which equipped over 200 students with the necessary skills to excel academically and in their personal lives. Through their youth development programme ASPIRE, they have provided scholarships for 10 academically bright students to be able to continue their senior high school education.

As a student himself Paul also played a significant role in improving the academic performance of his peers, since 2020 running an academic engagement programme called Boa Woyonko at Central University, providing both in-person and online academic support to friends and other students who were struggling to catch up during Covid-19. This programme has improved the academic performance of over 200 students and the programme has been replicated in other areas.

She was able to influence and convince not only members of her class to start this charity, but around 50 students from other High Schools to join as well, when she was just 16, driven by a passion to help others, especially underprivileged children to ease their burden and help them realise their potential.

FTF is currently sponsoring 13 underprivileged children through school as well as ensuring their total wellbeing. Just seven years since starting, FTF has directly impacted the lives of over 3,000 underprivileged children in underserved communities across Ghana by providing them with food and educational materials to ensure that they receive quality education.

Acclaim for her work saw Kezia receive the Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Young Achiever’s Summit in 2020, a local scheme recognising and rewarding young entrepreneurs excelling in their various fields.

That same year, FTF won the Project/Initiative Award at the Young Achiever’s Summit. Last year they won the Community Influencer of the year Pan African award from Pulse Africa, the well-known African news agency. Kezia was recently appointed to serve as a member of the board of trustees of the Head of State Awards Scheme in Ghana which is a member of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Association, and provides a non-formal educational and learning framework for the development of thousands of young people with the requisite skills and competencies for life and work.

Her love for children also led Kezia to take up a part-time job as an elementary school teacher at the WIT School in East Legon, Ghana, teaching Literacy, History and Geography with a 21st century approach using technology.

She is also a mentor to hundreds of students in different basic schools in Ghana, empowering them through her speaking and mentorship engagements.

Ghanaian students have a history of excelling in the Chegg.org Global Student Prize, with Mathias Charles Yabe, a student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, a top 10 finalist last year. And Clement Ngosong, a 21-year-old electrical and electronics engineering student from Ashesi University, Ghana, was included in the top 50 shortlist in 2021.

Heather Hatlo Porter, Head of Chegg.org and Chief Communications Officer of Chegg, Inc, said:

“We are at a critical turning point as we face some of the greatest challenges in history. Students worldwide are keenly aware of this urgency, and they are leveraging their ingenuity to overcome the significant obstacles facing them to build a better future for us all.

“Congratulations to Paul Amanor and Kezia Sanie. Chegg not only celebrates your achievements but also the endless possibilities that exist when young minds are driven by a passion for change. The Top 50 Global Student Prize finalists deserve the opportunity to have their stories told and have their voices heard. Their dreams, wisdom, and inventive spirit will illuminate a more hopeful future for everyone.”

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, said:

“Paul Amanor and Kezia Sanie’s stories are a testament to the crucial role that education plays in building a better world for us all. It is the key to solving humanity’s greatest challenges, from war and conflict to climate change to growing inequality. As time runs out to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, it is more important than ever to prioritize education so we can face the future with confidence.”

Applications and nominations for this year’s Global Student Prize opened on 19 January and closed on 14 May. Students are being assessed on their academic achievement, impact on their peers, how they make a difference in their community and beyond, how they overcome the odds to achieve, how they demonstrate creativity and innovation, and how they operate as global citizens.

Last year’s winner was Ukrainian teenager Igor Klymenko, a 17-year-old student from Kyiv, Ukraine, who moved to the countryside at the start of the Russian invasion to finish his final year of high school. Sheltered in the basement of his new home, Igor successfully completed his studies while refining the mine-detecting drone he had been working on for eight years. He was selected as the winner of the 2022 Chegg.org Global Student Prize from over 7,000 applications from more than 150 countries.

The first winner in 2021 was Jeremiah Thoronka, a 21-year-old student from Sierra Leone, who launched a start-up called Optim Energy that transforms vibrations from vehicles and pedestrian footfall on roads into an electric current. With just two devices, the start-up provided free electricity to 150 households comprising around 1,500 citizens, as well as 15 schools where more than 9,000 students attend.

The top 10 finalists of the Global Student Prize are expected to be announced in August this year. The winner, who will be announced later in the year, will be chosen from the top 10 finalists by the Global Student Prize Academy, made up of prominent individuals.

If students were nominated, the person nominating them was asked to write a brief description online explaining why. The student being nominated was then sent an email inviting them to apply for the prize. Applicants were able to apply in English, Mandarin, Arabic, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian. To join the conversation online follow @cheggdotorg

Paul Amanor grew up in a low-income family making him acutely aware of the challenges that students in similar circumstances face in Ghana, which motivated him to establish Foundation for Educational Equity and Development (FEED), a non-profit with a mission to end educational poverty in Ghana and beyond. Since its launch, FEED has provided educational resources and opportunities to students in underprivileged communities, in 2022, reaching over 2,700 children through its literacy programme Libraries Without Walls, providing them with mobile library and creative arts experiences and distributing over 3,000 books and school supplies to aid their academic pursuits. Paul started Libraries Without Walls during gap years in a community school at Ayikuma in 2017. FEED also hosted several workshops and seminars which equipped over 200 students with the necessary skills to excel academically and in their personal lives. Through their youth development programme ASPIRE, they have provided scholarships for 10 academically bright students to be able to continue their senior high school education. As a student himself Paul also played a significant role in improving the academic performance of his peers, since 2020 running an academic engagement programme called Boa Woyonko at Central University, providing both in-person and online academic support to friends and other students who were struggling to catch up during Covid-19. This programme has improved the academic performance of over 200 students and the programme has been replicated in other areas.

Kezia Sanie is a law student aspiring “to be a global asset in the legal field and humanitarianism” and is the founder and president of For The Future Ghana (FTF), a charity she started with a group of high school classmates. She was able to influence and convince not only members of her class to start this charity, but around 50 students from other High Schools to join as well, when she was just 16, driven by a passion to help others, especially underprivileged children to ease their burden and help them realise their potential. FTF is currently sponsoring 13 underprivileged children through school as well as ensuring their total wellbeing. Just seven years since starting, FTF has directly impacted the lives of over 3,000 underprivileged children in underserved communities across Ghana by providing them with food and educational materials to ensure that they receive quality education. Acclaim for her work saw Kezia receive the Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award at the Young Achiever’s Summit in 2020, a local scheme recognising and rewarding young entrepreneurs excelling in their various fields. That same year, FTF won the Project/Initiative Award at the Young Achiever’s Summit. Last year they won the Community Influencer of the year Pan African award from Pulse Africa, the well-known African news agency. Kezia was recently appointed to serve as a member of the board of trustees of the Head of State Awards Scheme in Ghana which is a member of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Association, and provides a non-formal educational and learning framework for the development of thousands of young people with the requisite skills and competencies for life and work. Her love for children also led Kezia to take up a part-time job as an elementary school teacher at the WIT School in East Legon, Ghana, teaching Literacy, History and Geography with a 21st century approach using technology. She is also a mentor to hundreds of students in different basic schools in Ghana, empowering them through her speaking and mentorship engagements.

Heather Hatlo Porter, Head of Chegg.org and Chief Communications Officer of Chegg, Inc, said: