Nana Kobina Nketsiah making a presentation to one of the beneficiaries
Hess Ghana Exploration Limited, a leading global independent energy company; and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) have awarded scholarships to 125 academically qualified but underprivileged Junior High School graduates in the Western Region.
The initiative is to enable the students from the six coastal districts of the region to continue their studies in the 2nd cycle institutions under the “Hess-GNPC Scholars Programme”.
The Hess-GNPC Scholars Programme which began in 2012, has transformed the lives of over 600 brilliant, young but financially handicapped students to enroll in high school, technical, vocational and health institutions.
The programme which initially started in the three Nzema Districts of the Western Region now covers students in the six coastal districts of the region namely, Shama, Sekondi-Takoradi, Ahanta West, Nzema East, Ellembelle and Jomoro.
The students selected this year bring the total number of scholarship beneficiaries to 646 under the Hess-GNPC Scholars Program.
Emmanuel Asmah, Head of Finance at Hess Ghana Exploration Limited revealed that the scholarships covered the cost of school fees, including examination fees and boarding costs; books and academic materials; and kits billed by schools.
He noted that following the free Senior High School policy announced by the government this year, the programme has had to evolve to provide all the items mentioned except the fees, with strong emphasis on mentoring and counselling of scholars so as to improve their overall quality.
For his part, Dr Patrick Kwaku Ofori, Manager, Sustainability-GNPC, noted that the most exciting part of the 6th intake was not only about the number of beneficiaries but that GNPC had also planned to sustain the programme as well.
“It is also worthy to note that GNPC is offering scholarships to over 500 Ghanaians to pursue courses in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at the tertiary levels under the GNPC Foundation”, he revealed.
Deputy Western Regional Minister, Gifty Eugenia Kusi, indicated that the initiative by Hess and GNPC complemented the efforts of government to ensure that every Ghanaian child was educated.
Nana Kobina Nketsiah V was happy that Hess and GNPC saw education as a priority; hence their investments.
He therefore advised the beneficiaries to take their studies seriously to justify their selection.
From Emmanuel Opoku, Takoradi