MTN Ghana Foundation awards full scholarships to 100 brilliant but needy tertiary students plus GHS1k stipend per semester

The MTN Ghana Foundation is living up to its commitment to making investments in education as outlined in the Foundation’s three main focus areas.

On Wednesday, October 19, the Foundation awarded full scholarships to 100 brilliant but needy students selected from various tertiary universities across the country through the “Bright Scholarship Reloaded” programme.

In June this year, the MTN Ghana Foundation launched the second edition of the Bright Scholarship Award dubbed, “Bright Scholarship Reloaded”.

The scholarship was launched to support needy and brilliant students in public tertiary institutions and vocational training schools.

Subsequently, over 1000 applications were received and screened by a panel before 100 applicants were selected to benefit from the scholarship.

The scholarship awarded to the 100 applicants is covering the full cost of tuition as well as accommodation.

In addition to receiving a free laptop, each student will receive a stipend of GHS1,150 per semester.

Delivering an address at a ceremony to award the scholarships to the 100 selected applicants, Board Member of the MTN Ghana Foundation, Dr. Gloria Asare explained that the successes of the first edition of the scholarship motivated her outfit to outdoor the reloaded edition.

“Out of over 119 beneficiaries that have graduated, 82 graduated with first-class honours degrees with 24 receiving special awards including valedictorians.

“The success and impact of the first Bright Scholarship initiative necessitated the launch of the Bright Scholarship Reloaded for the next 3 years. During the MTN 25^th Anniversary celebration, the MTN Ghana Foundation board once again approved the award of 300 Scholarships for another three years ending in 2024 to brilliant and needy students in public institutions,” Dr. Gloria Asare explained.

She said it is the hope of the MN Ghana Foundation that the scholarship will help ease the financial burden faced by the students and their parents so they may have the peace of mind to complete their education without any major difficulties.

Dr. Gloria Asare used the opportunity to address the beneficiaries to urge them to make the most out of the scholarship.

“I would like to encourage the current beneficiaries here today that the award of the scholarship by the business is in fact a vote of confidence in their abilities and vision, a statement that despite the seeming challenging situations we find ourselves, MTN has taken that step to support you for our collective progress.

“Beyond showing our confidence in the beneficiaries of the Bright Scholarships, MTN continues to keep faith with our homeland - Ghana and Africa as a whole, with a refreshed strategy, dubbed Ambition 2025 premised on leading digital solutions for Africa’s progress. MTN is focused on accelerating growth by building the largest and most valuable platform businesses and driving its industry-leading connectivity operations,” Dr. Gloria Asare added.

In his address, Mr. George Kyei Frimpong who is Education Portfolio Advisor and Lead for Scholarship Award Programme disclosed that the Bright Scholarship Reloaded beneficiaries have been selected from all public tertiary institutions representing all 16 regions of Ghana after qualifying through their impressive academic track record while showing eagerness to pursue higher levels education.

“They have qualified for this award through their impressive academic track record and have shown eagerness to pursue higher levels of education.

“We are happy to see participation from across the country and are very glad to provide them with the opportunity to achieve their dreams,” Mr. George Kyei Frimpong noted.

Appreciation from a parent:

At the ceremony, Mrs. Naomi Adu, a parent of one of the beneficiaries was full of praise and thanked the MTN Ghana Foundation.

She said for the intervention, her daughter’s education at the tertiary would have been cut off.

“The journey hasn’t been easy. I have five children. Their father was working in a fishing company. There was a cutoff and he had to resign. Later he suffered a stroke and suffered a mental condition. My daughter had admission to go to the University of Ghana and at that point, things were not easy.

“What I want to tell the foundation, you are doing very well. I thank you and may the God I serve bless you, MTN Ghana Foundation,” Mrs. Naomi Adu shared at Tuesday’s ceremony.

Appreciation from a beneficiary:

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the ceremony, Jasmine Agyeiwaa who is a student at the University of Ghana, Legon said she will forever be grateful to MTN.

Amid crying, she disclosed, “Before this things were very hard for me because things were difficult for me at home. It [the scholarship] has changed my life and I will forever be grateful for what they [MTN] has done for me.”

Impact so far:

Besides its Bright Scholarship programme, the MTN Ghana Foundation has over the years leveraged the focus areas of Education, Health, and Economic Empowerment to invest over $15 million through Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives.

In that regard, MTN has built several schools, refurbished hospitals, and empowered hundreds of Ghanaians.

Cumulatively, the CSI projects of the leading communications company have impacted over 4 million Ghanaians directly and a million others indirectly.