MTN Foundation awards scholarship to 300 students, 60 blinds

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, MTN Nigeria through the MTN Foundation (MTNF) has awarded 300 scholarships to students in the huger institutions and 60 scholarships to blind students in the same category in this year’s scholarship program.

The MTNF awards annual scholarships worth N200,000 to eligible students studying a science-related discipline and blind students studying any discipline under its Science and Technology Scholarship Scheme (STSS) and Scholarship Scheme for Blind Students (SSBS) respectively.

Students under both schemes are from public universities, colleges of education and polytechnics across Nigeria. In addition, students on either scheme who maintain the required grades would have their scholarships renewed annually until they graduate.

Speaking at the MTNF Scholarship Award and Alumni Induction Ceremony on Thursday in Abuja, the Director MTN Foundation, Mrs Aishatu Sadauki, said after the scholarship awardees had graduated, they would be inducted into the Alumni Association, where they would be exposed to opportunities that would establish them.

“On behalf of the foundation, I would like to congratulate our new and existing awardees as they become members of the MTN FoundationScience and Technology Scholarship Scheme and the MNTF Scholarship Scheme for Blind Students.

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“Your MTN Foundation journey does not end with this scholarship. Upon graduation, we will be glad to welcome you to the MTN Foundation Scholars Alumni Association, a platform for graduands of the scholarship scheme to network and maintain life long bond.

“The MTN Foundation Scholars Alumni Association is also a platform where members can glean valuable, career propelling information. Nigerian is a nation with a teeming youth population, which is why empowering young Nigerians is of particular concern to the Foundation. A passion for education and youth empowerment is one of the many ways in which my values and that of the MTN Foundation intersect,” she said.

She further said that the Alumni Association would also attend workshops with MTN Nigeria partners, like Google, IBM and others on how they could develop their skill.

“I am pleased to mention that the graduands of the scholarship scheme who were inducted into the Alumni Association participated in the employability workshop. This is a program that is implemented by MTN Foundation in partnership with some of its ecosystem partners; Oracle, Google, IBM, KPMG.

“Prior to the phase, a total of 1801 Alumni have participated in the workshop. The key objective of the workshop is to prepare the graduands for life after school,” she noted.

The Senior Manager, Program Implementation, MTN Foundation, Abasi-Ekong Udobang said from inception to date, MTN has awarded scholarships to 3,469 students valued over N1.9Billion with 1,801 students graduating from the scheme.

“It is worthy of note that the garlands of the scholarship scheme take part in an employability workshop to ensure that they are better equipped for the realities of the labour market,” Udobang added.