Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister of Education, has called on Ghanaian students to explore educational opportunities in the United States of America, saying 'it is one of the greatest nations to have higher education.' He said USA universities would challenge students, broaden their knowledge, and make them critical thinkers.? Dr Adutwum said this at the opening ceremony of the Education USA College Fair in Accra, organised by the U.S. Embassy in Ghana. The Fair featured over 50 U.S. colleges and universities and offers opportunities for Ghanaians to study in the United States. The Fair brought together Senior High Schools in Accra to explore educational opportunities in the USA. The Minister urged the students to take advantage of scholarship opportunities and apply to as many foundations that offer scholarships as possible. That, he explained, would help parents who could not afford to get more resources to relieve them of the burden of United States education in terms of cost.? Dr Adutwum was hopeful t hat the relationship Ghana had developed with the embassy, would provide the opportunity to secure visas for the students to enrol in schools they yearn for. He wished the students the best of luck and expressed confidence in them getting the opportunity to travel abroad for their higher education. 'I hope that they will come back to Ghana after their education to contribute their quota to the transformation of the country. 'American graduates return to their country, and they do some good things for Ghana and for humanity,' he said. Ms Virginia Palmer, USA Ambassador to Ghana, said over the last year, Education USA advisors from the Accra and Kumasi-based centres had helped thousands of Ghanaian students apply for admissions across hundreds of accredited institutions of higher learning in the United States. She said the Education USA advisors helped Ghanaian students over the past years receive GHc 141 million in scholarships, adding that Ghana was the second in sub-Saharan Africa to get students to s tudy in the USA. Ghana is the 14th largest in the world for graduate students going to the USA. She said the US Embassy had increased their staff by more than 50 per cent to facilitate the visa processes and address the backlog in the system. 'I don't want the United States to look unwelcoming. We really want Ghanaian visitors and Ghanaian students, especially, to come to the United States and study,' she said. Education USA is a U.S. government-sponsored network of 450 centres in 170 countries around the globe, mandated to provide comprehensive, current, accurate, and impartial information on U.S. higher education. Source: Ghana News Agency