14 KNUST students graduate under full scholarship from MTN

14 recipients of the scholarships known as “Bright Scholarships” in Kumasi received their degrees from Kwame Nkrumah University Science and Technology (KNUST) on Thursday and Friday.

Fourteen MTN Bright Scholarship recipients have received degrees from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology’s College of Health Sciences.

1,279 undergraduate students from the School of Medicine and Dentistry, School of Public Health, and School of Vertinary Medicine attended the 57th graduation ceremony on Thursday, November 16, 2023, in the KNUST great hall, to receive their awards after meeting all requirements.

Speaking to the media, beneficiary Dr. Albert Kwaku Boahen, who was also named the Best Graduating student in medicine and surgery overall, claimed that without MTN’s help, he would not have been able to accomplish this success.

“Coming from a low-income family, the idea of having my tuition and stipends covered by MTN Foundation gave me no choice but to work hard and learn, and that is why I am here today because the company chose to be kind,” Dr. Boahen remarked.

Inscription on his certificate of achievement, signed jointly by the Provost for the College of Health Sciences, Prof. Christian Agyare and the Dean for the School of Medicine and Dentistry, Prof. Akwasi Antwi-Kusi reads,”…Your hardwork, determination and commitment to academic excellence have enabled you to achieve this significant milestone, and the college of Health Sciences is proud to recognize your achievement”.

Another beneficiary, Dr. Adjoa Anyidado Hackman, who earned an honors degree in medicine, expressed her gratitude to MTN for providing the help and support that allowed her to win the award.

Emmanuel Koomson, a doctor of pharmacy at KNUST, testified during his Bright Scholarship hearing that, upon receiving admission, his parents expressed concern that financing him would be too difficult for them to handle.

“I thought to myself, let me relax and try again next year,” he remembered in a media interview conducted on the fringes of the event.

Days later, he said, a friend forwarded him a link to the MTN Bright Scholarship.  “So I applied.”

Koomson said he later recieved a call from an unknown number, ” telling me he is from MTN and that I have to come to Accra for an interview. So i asked permission from my Boss at an internship at Akim Oda… After a week or so, I received a call that i have successfully gained the scholarship. The joy for me and my parents was very massive.”

Emmanuel Koomson continued in his testimony, saying that ” since then, i didn’t have to call my parents for any fees or anything.

Every semester, my school fees were paid by MTN including hostel fees and they use to give us stipends every semester.

So, the scholarship really took a burden off my parents. It was really a game changer. It has really been helpful”.

” The message I have for MTN is that ‘God bless you so much’. In fact, if it had not been for you, i wouldn’t know where i would have been right now because they paid my fees from 2nd year to the 6th year without asking me for anything…God bless MTN Ghana. Long live MTN Ghana”.

Speaking to the media, Robert Kuzoe (Senior Manager for MTN Ghana Foundation” charged the beneficiaries to use what they have achieved to impact their society.

Thirty beneficiaries will graduate nationwide in 2023 alone, according to Robert Kuzoe, Senior Manager of the MTN Ghana Foundation.

“We are happy that after graduating with honours from Medicine, surgery, pharmacy and others from other fields these graduates would go on to contribute their knowledge to the development of Ghana”, Mr Kuzoe stated in an interview with the media.

In 2018, the MTN Bright Scholarship was introduced to offer financial support to economically disadvantaged students attending public postsecondary institutions.

One of the three areas of focus for the MTN Ghana Foundation is education, which includes the MTN Bright Scholarship.

In addition to the Bright Scholarship Initiative, the organization has given more than a thousand scholarships to students ranging from primary school to university.

Since the launch of the MTN Foundation in 2007, the foundation has invested in over 90 educational projects across the country.

A few of these projects are the building of a multipurpose library at Dansoman, a six-unit classroom block for Nhyiaso Basic School, a three-unit classroom block for Mangoase Basic School, a six-unit classroom block for Tamale Senior High School, and a multipurpose library for GIMPA.

In November 2007, the MTN Ghana Foundation was founded to serve as the platform for choosing and carrying out MTN’s CSR investments.

The three main areas of interest for the MTN Ghana Foundation are economic empowerment, education, and health.

The foundation has started and completed 166 significant projects all around the nation.

This consists of six community support programs, 15 projects for economic empowerment, 55 projects for healthcare, and 90 projects for education.

Source: Ghanatodayonline.com