Another batch of 163 university students drawn from Gold Fields Ghana’s catchment areas, have been awarded a whopping $199,245 in scholarships for the 2022/23 academic year.
The beneficiaries included 84 males and 79 females of which two are physically challenged.
The scholarship scheme, which is an annual ritual established by the charity arm of the Gold Fields Ghana, a mining firm operating in both Tarkwa and Damang in the Western Region, this time round saw an increment in the annual fee for each student beneficiary.
The amount was pegged at GH₡7000.00 covering tuition fees, accommodation amongst others as compared to the previous GH₡6000.00 each for beneficiaries.
Due to the importance of the scheme, a number of dignitaries ranging from academia to traditional rulers lined up to grace the occasion.
They included Prof. Anthony Simons, Pro Vice Chancellor of University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Lydia Ephraim, Deputy Registrar, UMaT, Theodora Oduro, Senior Registrar, UMaT, Prof Ekow Micah, Pro Vice Chancellor, Takoradi Technical University (TTU).
The rest are Dr. Bruce Amartey, Dean of Students TTU, Nana Kwesi Ansah, Host Communities Chairman, Nana Ama Saara I, Queen mother of Subri, Abdel Razak Yakubu, Foundation Secretary, Robert Siaw, Regional Community Affairs Manager.
Addressing the gathering, Robert Siaw, Regional Community Affairs Manager of Gold Fields told the gathering that beneficiaries were selected with assistance of community leaders and Ghana Education Service (GES) from the host communities through to the scholarship committee.
The scholarship programme he pointed out has benefitted about 2,611 youths in various disciplines adding that 120 beneficiaries out of the total graduated from various tertiary institutions in 2023.
Mr Siaw continued however that Gold Fields having taken note of the new world of work and the paucity of employment opportunities in the country have prioritized the formal and informal skills training of youth in host communities.
The mine he indicated had in collaboration with host communities invested $36million in initiatives such as graduate Training programme, Host Community Apprentice Programme, Mines apprenticeship Training amongst others benefitting over five hundred youth.
The objective of the programme he explained was to give hands-on experience to the youth to make them easily employable or set themselves up in some business.
Turning his attention to the scholarship scheme, Robert Siaw mentioned that the contribution of higher education and skillful youth to economic development need not be emphasized and that no laudable development agenda would be successful without quality education and skillful population.
That was the reason Gold Fields as a socially responsible company and committed to genuine sustainable development has taken to the path of human development in the area in which it operates.
“We are happy to award these scholarships to support with the development of skilled manpower. We believe that, for the huge unemployment challenge facing Ghana to be abated, we must support initiatives that make education more relevant to the world of work”.
Criteria for the scholarship scheme
The Gold Fields Ghana Foundation (GGF) Scholarship programme is open to students whoobtained aggregate 12 or better at the WASSCE level, gained admission into any tertiary institution and would want to pursue science, technology, engineering and Maths (STEM).
That aside, a beneficiary must either be a native of any of host communities or must be a resident in that community before Gold Fields started its operations.
