Scholarship programme for tertiary institutions

31-07-08


A SCHOLARSHIP scheme dubbed, ‘Tertiary Education Scholarship Trust (TEST) for Ghana’, aimed at providing scholarships to brilliant needy students to pursue tertiary education in the country has been launched in Accra.
Under the programme, 80 beneficiaries would be granted full and partial scholarships with an average value of GH¢500 annually from the scheme to pursue studies in the public universities and polytechnics.
The Founder of ‘TEST for Ghana’, Dr Keith Lloyd, who launched the scheme, said the scholarship would be available for study in any subject which would contribute to the socio economic development of the country.
He said under the scheme, a beneficiary was expected to show a commitment to remain in the country to work for its social and economic development, backed by a five-year bond.
According to him, a beneficiary would also be obliged to work during vacation times for the local community where he/she belonged, saying that TEST would provide mentoring and employment counselling programmes for scholars.
Applications from handicapped students, he said, would be encouraged and noted that application for scholarship would be made through stakeholders in accordance with the requirements defined by the scheme.
Dr Lloyd, who is also the Founder of Norman and Ivy Lloyd African Scholarship Trust at Linacre College University of Oxford, UK, said although the award of scholarships would be in accordance with donors’ requirements, it “would carry a 60 per cent bias towards female applicants, applicants from the Northern, Upper West and Upper East region and Universities”.
He said future activities of the scheme will include microfinance, self sustainability, provision of modern equipment to selected needy schools and an opportunity for the best graduate to emerge from TEST to apply to Linacre University of Oxford.
For his part, the Chairman of Test for Ghana, Prof George Hagan, urged needy brilliant students to take advantage of the scheme for the betterment of their lives and community.
He pledged that the scheme would be fair and transparent to all applicants.