KNUST’s 40-year record shattered by 24-year-old

He is the highest recipient of awards in four decades at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The 24-year-old Charles Dzugah’s broke the 40-year old record by raking in 8 out of the 15 available awards at the end of his seven-year- course at the university.

He received the awards which included the Dr. Wereko-Brobby and Dr. Kwame Addo Kuffuor awards, at the induction ceremony at KNUST.

The interesting twist to Charles Dzugah’s intriguing story is how he has maintained his consistent academic excellence from the basic to tertiary level of education.

Reminiscing about awards he swept during the induction ceremony, Charles said on the Traffic Avenue on Citi FM: “It was a blur of emotions on that day. It just happened so fast… I don’t remember what I was thinking but I was just excited.”

He dispelled notions people had about him that he was the “serious type,” who is always behind his books studying.

“No I have a lot of fun. I party and chill with my friends while I was campus,” he revealed.

“I sometimes went to the club and hang out with friends after studying,” he added.

About Charles 

Charles lived most of his formative years in Accra and was born in the Korle Bu area.

He lived in Laterbiokorshie which is just a stone throw from Korle Bu and began his elementary education at Mays Educational Complex in Dansoman .

He subsequently moved to Bishop Bowers School to further his primary education.

He later had his secondary education at St Peter’s High School and effortlessly made 8 A’s in the West African Certificate Examination (WASSCE).

Breaking Barriers

Charles revealed that his siblings were the main figures who spurred him on to sit up and “break the barriers.”

“My siblings gave me a lot of role models to look up to, so failure was not an option. I also saw those ahead of me attend good schools and that encouraged me to step up my game and kept me on my toes.”

Motivation

Charles had an insatiable desire to be a medical doctor since childhood.
He recalled that he fell in love with the profession after reading about Louis Pasteur- a French chemist and microbiologist.

“I have always wanted to do something like him where I change the paradigm so I think that moment in class 5 was the changing moment.”

Way Forward

Sharing his thoughts on the way forward for the educational sector, Dzugah advised major stakeholders to put in more efforts to ensure quality education including “ equipping resource centres, and hiring more teachers.”

“It goes beyond setting up new lecture halls but look at the problem in general.”