MTN Foundation provides scholarship to 100 tertiary students

By Hafsa
Obeng/Julius K. Satsi, GNA

Accra, Sept.19, GNA – The MTN Ghana
Foundation, under its Bright Scholarship Award, has offered full academic
scholarships to 100 brilliant but needy students in public tertiary
institutions to assist them in achieving their dreams in life.

The scholarship, which covers tuition and
accommodation fees as, well as GH¢500.00 per semester stipend for reading
materials, was handed to the beneficiaries at a ceremony held in Accra on
Wednesday.

Mr Selorm Adadevoh, the Chief Executive
Officer of MTN Ghana, said the Telecommunication Network Company was committed
to the empowerment of the youth because investment in them was an investment
for a better future in Ghana.

Mr Adadevoh shared a story of a friend who
dared to dream and followed through to accomplishment, and thus advised the
beneficiaries to be committed to the educational path they had taken.

He said, the MTN Foundation was expectant of a
better outcome of the scholarship awards urging them to demonstrate leadership,
integrity and build a strong ‘can do’ spirit as they had become ambassadors of
the MTN brand.

Professor Kwesi Yankah, the Deputy Minister of
Education in charge of the Tertiary Sector, commended the MTN Ghana Foundation
for intervening to support the students to keep their dreams alive by assisting
them financially.

He said the Government was committed to making
education as accessible as possible to all Ghanaian of school going age, as
demonstrated by huge investment in that area.

Prof Yankah said although the Government had
been providing scholarship through the Government Scholarships Secretariat,
many young men and women did not know about it.

For about five years now, he said, the
Government had invested between 20 per cent and 27 per cent of the National
Budget in the education sector.

 However,
the Government alone could not support education entirely, he explained,
therefore, more organisations and companies should emulate MTN Ghana to support
the brilliant but needy young ones.

Prof Franklyn Manu, the Chairman of the MTN
Foundation, said the Scancom Plc, during its 20th Anniversary in 2016, pledged
through the Foundation to award 100 scholarships to students in public tertiary
institutions.

The MTN Bright Scholarship would, therefore,
be awarding 300 scholarships over three years in fulfilment of that commitment.

He said, in April, this year, the Foundation
requested qualified students to submit their applications for consideration,
adding that, at the close of the deadline, more than 1,500 entries were
received from all the 10 regions, out of which 205 were shortlisted and the
final 100 selected through an interview.

Since the establishment of the MTN Foundation,
Prof Manu said: “We have invested over USD 13 million into 142 education,
health and economic empowerment projects that have led to brightening more than
four million lives across the country.”

Ms Ewura-Esi Manful, a Level 300 student of
the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST),  a beneficiary, on behalf  her colleagues said, the scholarship had come
as a motivation to move them on to achieve their dreams.

She pledged that they would work assiduously
to achieve their academic goals and the objectives for instituting the MTN
Bright Scholarship award as well as give back to society.

Another beneficiary, Mr David Quayartey, a
Level 200 student of the KNUST, commended MTN and the Foundation for offering
them with the scholarship to give them the peace of mind to focus on their
education, describing the scholarship as ‘coming at the right time’.

He commended their parents for making a lot of
sacrifices to support their education thus far, while urging colleagues to live
up to expectation and never let the MTN Foundation down.

The MTN Foundation is the Corporate Social
Responsibility wing of MTN Ghana focused on education, health and economic
empowerment projects.

GNA 

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