The Anani Memorial International School, opened in 1978, held its 4th annual graduation ceremony on Saturday, August 4, 2012.

 The event took place in a small courtyard that was jam-packed at every corner.

At about 10:30 A.M., parents of the graduating students and other spectators started to pile in. The ceremony commenced about 30 minutes later.

A welcome dance was performed to kick off the event, where the younger students danced while they were singing a song. Afterwards, they lined up holding letters to their chest spelling welcome, and each came forward giving a speech about each letter.

Following that, a few of the older students performed a traditional African dance called “African Woman.”

Various guests and school officials handed out diplomas to the graduating students. The guests also stopped to take photos with the students they handed diplomas to.

Each of the students had the look of sheer joy on their faces as they received their diplomas.

“I am excited and scared at the same time,” said a graduating student. “I may stay in Ghana to go to school, but I don’t know yet.”

In total, there were 76 graduates of primary school and 12 other students that moved on to start primary school. This year’s graduating class also had a higher completion rate than average for young people attending primary schools in Ghana.

According to Trading Economics, the average completion rate for students attending primary schools was about 87 percent; the male completion rate was about 87 percent and the female completion rate was about 82 percent.

The students that have enough funds will be attending Hill Pop International School for their next adventure.

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