100 tertiary students from the seven oil and gas enclave Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies of the Western Region would benefit from a fully paid scholarship from the TEN Tertiary Scholarship Scheme for the next academic year.
TEN is Ghana’s second petroleum field operated by Tullow Ghana and has partners including Kosmos Energy, Petro SA, GNPC and Exploco.
At the launch of the scheme in Takoradi, Edmond Fiifi Enchil, Social Performance Manager of Tullow Ghana, explained that the company had previously focused on secondary education infrastructure and entrepreneurship support but felt the need to support students in their catchment communities to pursue tertiary education.
“Tullow and its partners have for some time now been on a journey of supporting its immediate communities in many ways including fisheries support, school infrastructure at the SHS level, thus a $10 million infrastructure project for SHS in dormitory and classroom bocks and the Tullow tertiary STEM scholarships. However the partners have decided to support students from the Western Region at the tertiary level as a continuation from the SHS level to make sure that they proceed to complete tertiary education”, he noted.
Edmond Fiifi Enchil also told Channel One News that the scholarship for the 100 tertiary students is likely to be increased to 150 beneficiaries in the second academic year.
The TEN Tertiary Scholarship Scheme is being implemented by the Sekondi-Takoradi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, STCCI in 7 MMDAs of interest including Sekondi-Takoradi, Shama, Effia-Kwesimintsim, Shama, Ahanta West, Nzema-East, Jomoro and Ellembelle.
The scholarship will cover academic fees, and provide laptops, accommodation or hostel fees, and stipends for beneficiaries.
To qualify, students must demonstrate academic excellence and be from one of the seven MMDAs in the Western Region.
The Chief Executive Officer of STCCI, Vincent Annan giving the scope of the TEN Tertiary Scholarship also outlined the criteria and benefits of the scholarship.
He emphasised the importance of the scheme in developing capacity for the petroleum industry’s supply chain services.
“The TEN Tertiary Scholarship targets 100 students per year of tertiary students in all Public Universities, Colleges of Education and Colleges of Health. It will pay their academic fee, provide one-time laptops, accommodation or hostel fees as well as provide for stipends. Interested students from any of the seven MMDAs in the Western Region will have to demonstrate academic excellence”, he explained.
“Such scholarships help to develop capacity or human resources for industry to provide the essential supply chain services to the petroleum industry. Therefore the vision of the TEN Tertiary scholarship scheme resonates with the Chamber and the Business community’s vision.”, he said.
Western Regional Director of the Ghana Education Service, George Effah, commended the TEN partners for their investment in education, saying it represents hope and a brighter future for the beneficiaries.
“The scholarship represents hope, opportunity and a brighter future hence this shows your commitment to the education of the future of the current generation”, he acknowledged.
Prof. Nana Akyipim Nkrumah, Kyidomhene of Ahanta Ajumako, also emphasized the significance of education in national development and commended the TEN partners for their initiative.
“The development of the most important factor in the development of a country is education, and therefore any group interested in the development of Human Resources must be commended. For this, TEN partners must be applauded since their scheme provides much hope for the country”, he said.
The STCCI will collaborate with tertiary institutions to open its portal for applicants in line with their academic calendar.
Explore the world of impactful news with CitiNewsroom on WhatsApp!
Click on the link to join the Citi Newsroom channel for curated, meaningful stories tailored just for YOU: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaCYzPRAYlUPudDDe53x
No spams, just the stories that truly matter! #StayInformed #CitiNewsroom #CNRDigital
