Chirano Mines awards scholarship to 30 students
Chirano Gold Mines Limited has awarded scholarships to 30 students in its catchment communities.
The full scholarship covers all school fees and academic payments, accommodation and a monthly stipend for the entire duration of the beneficiary’s tertiary education.
Speaking at a ceremony to announce the scholarship, the Vice President and General Manager of Chirano Gold Mines, Mr Terence Watungwa, said this formed part of its commitment to provide support for the improvement of education in its catchment communities through the provision of infrastructure, teacher incentives and valuable interventions such as scholarships.
“Chirano recognizes education as an essential element in community advancement. With the company’s vision of using capacity building to change lives for the better, the awards aim to support, encourage and promote learning and higher education.
“The attainment of higher education is critical to the socio-economic transformation of every society, and this is the reason that Chirano has elected to prioritize these scholarships, providing higher education opportunities for local youth, and granting funds to cover tuition, accommodations and other expenses at the tertiary level,” he stated.
Two programs
The scholarships are being awarded under two programs: the General Manager’s Scholarship and the Chirano Sefwiman Foundation Scholarship.
The GM’s Scholarship Program is fully funded by the Mine to support students from the Senior High School Level who might not be able to progress to the higher level because of the lack of financial resources.
Six high performing students were selected for this scholarship.
The Chirano Sefwiman Foundation Scholarship, inaugurated last year with an initial investment of $2 million to spearhead development in the catchment area, is supporting 24 students.
It is the first of many development programs to come from the Foundation.
GH¢120,000 to be spent
The General Manager pointed out that a total of GH¢120,000 cedis would be spent on both scholarships.
“This amount will grow significantly, as new beneficiaries are brought on board on an annual basis for the foreseeable future. All the applicants are from, and have attended basic school in one of our catchment communities. They are recent Senior High School graduates who excelled at the West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE).
“They have gone through a rigorous process to determine the financial status of their guardians and none of them is a dependent of an employee of Chirano Gold Mines. I am very confident that through our rigorous selection process, the best candidates to make the needed positive impact on their communities in the near future are being awarded these scholarships,” he noted.