The MTN Ghana Foundation has as part of efforts to ensure inclusive education in Ghana, awarded scholarships to 50 students selected from public tertiary institutions.
The scholarship scheme, which was under the MTN Bright Scholarship 2020 Awards, was presented to the beneficiaries from tertiary institutions in the northern parts of Ghana.
They were part of the 100 public tertiary students across the country who would benefit from the scholarship this year.
Awardees were drawn from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), University of Development Studies (UDS), Wesley College of Education, and Kintampo College of Health among others.
The MTN Bright Scholarship was started in the year 2018, with the aim of awarding scholarships to 300 brilliant students for a period of three years.
Every year, since 2018, 100 public tertiary students are vetted and picked for these awards which cover tuition, accommodation and feeding.
Mr. Samuel Koranteng, Acting Services Executive at MTN Ghana, speaking at the award ceremony in Kumasi said, 50 students were recently awarded in the southern sector of Ghana and advised the beneficiaries to believe in themselves and work hard to achieve their goals.
He said the intervention was to provide some form of relief to parents who had a huge financial burden in catering for their children in tertiary institutions.
He said MTN believed that education was the key driver for social and economic prosperity and that was why during the COVID-19 era, the company provided free access to over 200 educational websites to assist students in research and learning.
He said the MTN Ghana Foundation had invested over $50,000,000.00 in the areas of health, education, economic empowerment, adding that the Foundation had completed about 87 education projects across the country.
Mr Simon Osei-Mensah, the Ashanti Regional Minister, commended MTN Ghana for its continuous support in providing relief schemes for Ghanaians and urged the company to do more to help the poor and vulnerable in the society.
He appealed to the company to improve on its systems to help reduce telecommunication hitches and ensure smooth business transactions.