Deputy Minister for Works, Housing and Water Resources, Gizella Tetteh-Agbotui, has opened up about her academic setbacks, revealing she failed her A-Level exams three times before gaining admission to university.
Speaking at the 12th Anniversary and 2nd Speech and Prize Giving Day of Fettehman Senior High School in the Central Region on Saturday, July 26, 2025, the Awutu Senya West MP shared her story to encourage students not to give up in the face of failure.
“I didn’t pass my A Level the first time. I didn’t pass the second time either. It was the third time that I finally made the grades to enter university,” she told the students.
Despite attending the prestigious Wesley Girls’ High School, she admitted she never won a single academic award. But instead of letting that define her, she used it as motivation to keep going.
“When my mates were heading to the University of Ghana and KNUST, I stayed back,” she said. “I saw the courses people were going to study and I said to myself, ‘This one, I can do it too.’ But I also realized that I was part of the problem, so I had to sit up, focus, and study.”
Her perseverance eventually paid off when she was admitted to Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) to study architecture — a field, she noted, that remains male-dominated.
“In my class, there were 30 men and just 10 women. But we stood toe to toe, head to head, and I’ve been practicing ever since.”
Now a qualified architect with 27 years of experience, Tetteh-Agbotui used her platform to urge a balanced approach to gender advocacy in education.
“If we overdo the girl-child advocacy and leave the boys behind, we’ll create a new imbalance. I believe in helping all children, male and female, develop together.”
She ended her speech with a message of gratitude and determination: “Someone wishes to be where you are. You are in a good place at a good time. Make good use of it.”
