86 Students receive scholarship from La Nkwantanang-Madina Assembly

The La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly has awarded scholarship to 86 tertiary students within the municipality.

The scholarship forms part of the National Scholarship Scheme which has been decentralised.

While some of the students were given full scholarship,others had partial scholarship.

Decentralisation

At a ceremony to award the scholarship, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Mrs Jennifer Dede Adjabeng, said the National Scholarship Scheme, until recently, was centralised and awarded by the National Scholarship Secretariat but had now been decentralised with metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies mandated to receive applications.

She expressed the delight that the government had decentralised the scheme to the local level to enable more people to access the scheme.

Mrs Adjabeng noted that a number of young people had completed senior high school but were unable to further their education due to financial constraints.

The scholarship scheme, she said, was, therefore, intended to cushion the students and their families as part or all of their tuition fees were absorbed by the state.

Beneficiaries

Mrs Adjabeng said a total of 200 senior high school graduates applied for the scholarship through the La Nkwantanang-Madina Municipal Assembly, however, 86 of them qualified for the scholarship which was meant for needy brilliant students.

The MCE said other students had also been awarded scholarship under the GETFund scheme.

She explained that the scholarship was renewable every year and it would be based on the grades and performance of beneficiaries.

Mrs Adjabeng said the scholarship was in the past awarded to only students from the second and third year of tertiary education but had been revised to include first-year students.

She urged the beneficiaries not to take the scholarship for granted.

In a remark, the Member of Parliament for the area, Mr Abu-Bakr Saddiq Boniface, advised the students to make the best grades to ensure they continue to benefit from the scheme.

Gratitude

The Director of the La Nkwantanang Education Directorate, Mrs Angela Frimpong Nkansah, commended the assembly for the support to the students.

She commended the assembly’s efforts at pushing and promoting quality and accessible education for all and also ensuring that many students got the scholarship.

She, therefore, urged the students to work hard and make judicious use of the opportunity given them, saying that “do not go and waste this opportunity because you or your parents are not paying for it”.

Beneficiary

One of the beneficiaries, Mr Campbell Ayiedaga, in an interview with the Daily Graphic expressed his gratitude to the municipal assembly for selecting him following his application.

He said he completed his SHS education in 2017 but had to stay at home for a year during which he engaged in minimal jobs to earn some income to support his education.

After raising some money, he said he applied to the University of Cape Coast where he gained admission.

“When I heard of the scholarship, I decided to try and fortunately, I have been given the opportunity,” he said.

Mr Ayiedaga said his parents were financially constrained as they have to take care of his other siblings. He was,therefore, grateful the government was supporting him to further his education.