Forty-four students in the Sunyani West District of the Bono Region have been awarded a government scholarship at a cost of over ¢62,000 to enable them to pursue various academic programmes at the tertiary level.
The government through the Scholarships Secretariat has decentralised the scholarship scheme to ensure fair and equitable beneficiaries in all district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies.
Some 186 students who are natives and residents of Sunyani West district, applied to the assembly after an open announcement on local radio stations, mosques and churches.
After shortlisting 110 applicants and subsequent interviews in an exercise to ensure impartiality, 12 females and 32 males were finally selected to benefit from the financial support for the 2019/2020 academic year.
The scholarship which covers only tuition fees ranges from Ȼ670 to Ȼ2,240 depending on the institution of study and the course being pursued. Some of the students are pursuing diploma and degrees at various Colleges of Education, Nursing training Colleges and Universities within and outside the Bono Region.
According to the scholarship award letters presented to the students and sighted by Joy News, the validity of the scholarship is subject to annual renewal.
It is further stressed that the scholarship is “liable to termination in the event of misconduct, unsatisfactory progress in studies and failure to pass any prescribed examination”, the letter signed by the DCE, Martin Obeng stated.
At a short ceremony in Odumase to present the letters to the students, the District Chief Executive, Sunyani West, Martin Obeng, said it is the desire of the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo to see all Ghanaian Children not denied the best of education.
“We are still developing and not all parents have enough resources to take care of their children”, he said, adding, “even though the President is taking care of the Second Cycle students, it is prudent to extend the scholarship to those at the tertiary institutions, so they can also enjoy.
“The selection committee had no party executives. The process was transparent and fair and there were no political machinations in the selection process”, he stressed.
The DCE encouraged the parents to ensure they do not pay for what has already been taken care of by government, with a call on the students to study hard, return with the knowledge to help their communities.
Ebenezer Amo Ntow, a delighted parent, expressed his appreciation to the government with a call on institutions such as the churches to join government to ensure the scope of beneficiaries is widen.
Priscilla Opoku-Mainoo, a Bsc Metrology and Climate Science student at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, who heard the announcement at Church said she is grateful for the scholarship offered her, describing it as a relieve of the financial burden on her parents.
Another beneficiary, Perpetual Opoku Danso, studying to become a nurse at the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, said her dream is to provide health care to people, especially in the remote areas and she sees the financial support towards her education as a drive in the realisation of her dream.
SOURCE: myjoyonline.com
