John Ntim Fordjour (left) presenting a dummy cheque to some of the beneficiaries
GOLD FIELDS Ghana Foundation has awarded scholarship to 325 brilliant but needy students from the company’s host communities to pursue full-time studies in four tertiary institutions.
The institutions are University of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Cape Coast and the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Tarkwa.
The foundation is paying GHS779,583.50 to cover tuition of the students for the 2022/2023 academic year in the four institutions.
The scholarship scheme by Gold Fields Ghana, started in 2002 and formalized in 2004 under the Goldfields Ghana Foundation, is part of the company’s corporate social responsibility.
Vice President, Operations, Gold Fields West Africa Michiel Van der Merwe, noted that Gold Fields Ghana have invested over US$36 million in providing access to quality education in its host communities since 2002.
“This investment has gone into the construction of educational infrastructure including over 50 classroom blocks, 36 teachers’ quarters with other educational facilities and four Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centers,” he added.
He noted that the foundation has also sponsored vocational and technical training for about 368 youths in areas such as welding and fabrication, auto electricals, auto mechanics and upholstery.
“The foundation has also introduced a number of innovative programmes to motivate teachers in our host community schools,” he pointed out.
Deputy Minister of Education, John Ntim Fordjour, commended Gold Fields for investing in the education of the youth, particularly, those in the company’s host communities.
He was hopeful that the initiative would transform the fortunes of the youth to become useful citizens in future.
FROM Emmanuel Opoku, Tarkwa