JAMB conducts Federal, BEA, Commonwealth scholarship exams January 17

THE Federal Government has announced that all applications for its four major scholarship schemes will be closed on 2nd January 2019, urging Nigerians to key into the window.

The four scholarship schemes being provided or supported by the Federal Government are the Federal Scholarship, the Bilateral Education Agreement Scholarship (BEA), the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Scholarship and Commonwealth Scholarship.

Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who made this known during the weekend in Abuja, said the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), would conduct the qualifying examination for applicants on the 17th January 2019, in designated centres across the six geo-political zones of the country.

The Minister has also directed the Federal Scholarship Board to henceforth register all the scholarship schemes being provided by both public and private individuals or organizations in Nigeria.

He disclosed that the Federal Government has in the last three years committed over N3 billion into various scholarship schemes, to support indigent but brilliant students across the country so as to help them realise their dreams.

Adamu said the portal is already opened for applications for the scholarship programmes through the Federal Ministry of Education website: www.education.gov.ng under the Federal Scholarship Board.

On the new policy shift on documentation and coordination, the Minister said: “It has been observed over the years that sometimes one student could benefit from as many as three or more scholarship awards in the face of thousands of students looking for one.

“The Federal Government has, therefore, decided that henceforth, all the scholarship schemes, be it Federal Government, Bilateral Education Agreement, Commonwealth, individual or corporate scholarship, States Bursary allowances or Local Government’s study grants or any other form of scholarship must be registered with the Federal Government Scholarship Board.

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“This is to avoid duplication of efforts and a situation where one student gets multiple scholarships at the expense of others.

“With proper co-ordination in this regard, it is my hope that more students will be able to come on board any of the scholarship platforms to realise their dreams.

“In processing the applications, the government will place emphasis on the poor who are academically sound. Priority would be given to children from rural areas. Examine your conscience before you put in your application,” he said.

He stressed that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is firmly committed to the welfare of its students both at home and abroad in terms of meeting the financial obligations to the students.

He disclosed that a total of 2,000 students are on Federal Government scholarship in various tertiary institutions in Nigeria, while 2,933 are currently on various scholarships in foreign countries.

Adamu, who gave further breakdown, said a total of 753 students are benefiting from scholarship under the Bilateral Education Agreement, which is obtainable for students studying abroad only, and spread across 12 countries of Russia, Algeria, China, Hungary, Morocco, Egypt, Cuba, Romania, Turkey, Ukraine, Tunisia and Serbia.

He said: “It is important to note that since the inception of the Buhari administration, the Federal Government has committed a total of about N3 billion under the three scholarship schemes I have outlined.

“This is inclusive of the N800 million so far spent in the 2018/2019 academic year. As I speak, the balance of the 2018 appropriation has been released and preparations are on to pay the scholars,” he said.