MTN Foundation has awarded scholarships to students in Abuja the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Owerri, the Imo State capital. The kind gesture from the foundation brings its spend on scholarships in the country to N1.6 billion since 2011.
A statement from the foundation said it is worthy of note that the major reason why there are a lot of kids, teens and youths that are out of school is because many of them cannot afford tuition, feed in school and lack basic resources such as books for seamless learning. “It is not their fault neither is it the fault of their parents that they find themselves in this unfortunate condition,” said the statement.
Seeing the need to assist the Nigerian youths in their quest for quality education without having, the corporate social investment arm of MTN Nigeria, MTN foundation on Tuesday the 4th and 11th of September 2018 awarded scholarships to more than 200 students worth N200, 000 yearly. The scholarship is split into two schemes: the first scheme is for students studying science and technology related courses and the second is for visually impaired students.
Since the turn of the year, a total of 1,164 scholarships have been awarded to deserving students in various educational institutions across the country and over 8,000 scholarships worth more than N1.6 billion have also been awarded to students since the launch of the programmes in 2011.
During the award ceremonies that held in Abuja and Owerri on the 4th and 11th of September 2018, respectively. MTN Foundation also inducted previous beneficiaries of the scholarship program into the Alumni association of MTNF scholarships comprising both the sighted and the visually impaired.
Speaking during the events, the director MTN Foundation Mr Dennis Okoro said: “Aiding and improving the lives of the Nigerian youth is something that is dear to us and close to our hearts, that is why MTNF has been awarding scholarships to Nigerian students since 2011. We intend to impact positively on the nation. Our impact goes beyond statistics and figures; it is to shape Nigeria’s future through education, to invest in the lives of tomorrow’s leaders, by providing them with an opportunity to pursue their dreams despite financial limitations.”
A total of 7,500 students applied for the MTN Foundation science and technology scholarship scheme. 1,500 students took the test and 500 students won the scholarship. It is a scholarship won by merit; as students maintain their good grades, they continue to receive an annual grant of N200,000. Whilst the science and technology scholarship scheme is strictly for students studying science and technology related courses, the scholarship for Blind is open to any visually impaired undergraduate students irrespective of their course of study.
MTN Foundation was launched in 2005 with the aim of improving quality of life in communities across the country. For more than a decade, it has helped impact lives positively through several social investment programmes in the areas of education, health and economic empowerment.
