MTN Ghana Foundation on Wednesday awarded 20 teachers with scholarships under its MTN Teachers’ Improvement Awards Programme to pursue first and second degree programmes.
The second edition of the award worth GHC 125,000.00 for each beneficiary teacher to professionally improve himself or herself in Science, Mathematics and English education.
Out of the 20 selected teachers, 10 would pursue courses in Mathematics, Science, and English at the Masters level, while another 10 would pursue courses in English, Science and Mathematics at the Bachelors level. 10 women and 10 men are benefiting from the 2016 scholarship package as against 15 men and five women last year.
Mrs Cynthia Lumor, Corporate Services Executive of MTN Ghana, speaking at the awards presentation in Accra today, said the programme was put together in line with the Foundation’s desire to build the capacity of teachers in the public schools in the country.
She explained: “The Teachers’ Improvement Awards Programme is designed to assist teachers who teach in first and second cycle public institutions to upgrade their education at the Bachelors and Masters levels”.
”Our aim is to improve their knowledge in Science, Mathematics, and English since these subjects continue to be core tools in many fields of study. They also help equip pupils with a uniquely powerful set of skills including logical reasoning and problem solving”, Mrs Lumor added.
According to her, the teachers would pursue the courses at the University of Cape Coast and the University of Education, Winneba.
Making progress
“–we are making good progress with the project. This year, we received 311 entries from all the 10 regions which is a huge increase compared to the 30 entries received last year”.
Mrs Lumor used the opportunity to encourage female teachers to take advantage of the scholarship scheme to increase their participation in the scheme.
“In 2015, out of the 30 applications received, eight were females and 22 were males. In 2016, we received 32 female applications as against 279 male applications. We would like to encourage more females to apply for the scholarship next year”, she urged.
This special call, according to her was in line with the saying that “if you educate a man, you educate one person but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation”. So, we need more women to participate in this scholarship scheme for the greater benefit of the entire country, Mrs Lumor stated.
Beneficiaries Grateful to MTN
The beneficiaries of the scholarship package thanked the board and management of the MTN Ghana for the support.
“We are assuring you that the scholarship would be used for its purpose”, Madam Alimatu Saadia, a beneficiary told African Eye Report.com after receiving the award.
The MTN Ghana Foundation started the Teachers’ Improvement Awards in 2015 after a careful consideration of its support to the annual National Best Teacher Awards ceremony. For a long time, MTN Ghana had been a leading contributor to the awards. But last year, the telecom giant decided to consider something new and more impactful, hence the introduction of the initiative.
Last year, 20 teachers were selected by the judges. Nine of the teachers who were selected, according to the MTN Ghana’s Corporate Services Executive are currently pursuing first degree programmes while another nine are pursuing their Masters. Two of the beneficiaries have successfully graduated from the University of Education, Winneba with Masters in English Language.
In line with its commitment to support development through education, MTN Ghana has over the past 20 years (from Spacefon to MTN) provided scholarships to over 1,000 students. The company has also built 75 classroom blocks, dormitories, and other infrastructure for children in dilapidated school structures in remote communities of the country.
Since the establishment of the MTN Ghana Foundation, the corporate social responsibility wing of the MTN Ghana, it has invested over GHC22.2 million in 135 education, health, and economic empowerment projects across the length and breadth of the country. This has brightened the lives of more than three million people across the country, according to the management of telecom firm.
African Eye Report
