EKITI GOVT. EXTENDS COLLECTION OF SCHOLARSHIP FORMS

Desirous to have more students of Ekiti State origin as beneficiaries of the State 2010/2011 Scholarship Award, the State government has extended the collection and submission of the Scholarship Forms till Friday, July 30, 2010.

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Wale Ojo-Lanre said in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti today and made available to journalists, that the Scholarship Scheme, which is for NCE, HND, undergraduate, Masters Degree, PhD, aviation students, students studying foreign language and physically challenged undergraduate students was part of the state government's intervention programmes.

The governor's spokesperson disclosed that under the Scholarship Scheme, N253 million was disbursed to 2,031 students between 2008 and 2009.

“Mr. Governor has graciously approved the extension of collection and submission of forms for the 2010/2011Scholarship Award so as to give room for more qualified applicants.

“Applicant must be in their 2ndyear and above in their courses of study to be qualified for NCE and Undergraduate Scholarship Awards and minimum CGPA of 3.80, 3.20 and 2.80 for university undergraduates, HND and NCE respectively in their current tertiary institutions.

“For the Masters Degree Scholarship Award, applicants for must possess a minimum of Second Class Upper Division in their first degree while applicants for PhD Scholarship Award who possess a minimum of Second Class Upper Division in first degree and an evidence of having obtained Masters Degree Certificate are eligible.

“Also, Overseas Scholarship Award would be granted to Ekiti Students who are studying postgraduate courses in recognised Universities only while physically challenged students in tertiary institutions (NCE, ND, HND, undergraduates and postgraduates) are qualified for the Physically Challenged Scholarship Award,” he said.

Speaking further on the scheme, Ojo-Lanre said; “Between 2008 and 2009, Ekiti State Government disbursement a total sum of N253,014,000.00 as scholarship to 2,031 students from the State studying in tertiary institutions both in Nigeria and foreign countries.

“N8,460,000 was given to 282 secondary school students at the rate of N30,000 per student, 86 physically challenged students got N8.6 million at N100,000 each, 82 students of College of Education received N3,280,000 at N40,000 each and 132 polytechnic students got N7,920,000 at N60,000 each.

“1,200 university undergraduates were given N72 million at N60,000 each, 131 Masters Degree Students in Nigeria received N26.2 million at N200,000 each while 47 students that are pursuing Master Degrees abroad received N23.5 million at N500, 000 each.

“The beneficiaries also included 88 students pursuing PhD programmes in Nigeria who got N66 million at N750,000 each, four overseas maritime students, N8,064,000 at N2,016,000 per student, two Aviation (Commercial Pilot) students, N3 million at N1.5 million each, 14 overseas PhD students, N21 million at N1.5 million each, three Pilot students of Nigerian Aviation College, Zaria, N3 million at n1 million each and five student pursuing Engineering course at the Aviation College, N1.5 million at N300,000 each.”