By Alpha Abu
University students who benefitted from a yearly scholarship sponsored by National Revenue Authority (NRA) Commissioner Abu Kanneh have individually spoken to Politico expressing their feelings about the offer.
Josephine Rogers just like the others is a first-year student. The 20-year-old who is studying for a degree in Nursing at Njala University said she was extremely happy when she was selected by a Committee after an interview and scrutiny of her academic performance before entering university.
She said her parents would certainly have struggled to get her tuition fees paid and expressed profound gratitude to Kanneh for helping her. She promised to take her studies seriously so she could live up to expectations so she would continue to benefit from the educational support.
Another of the scholarship students Julius Sheku studying for a BSc in Public Health explained how he had to sell his phone just to purchase the university admission form. He said he wasn’t sure how he would even pay his first-year fees and explained how upon being shortlisted after the interview for the scholarship he was elated when he was finally chosen.
Sheku expressed profound gratitude to Kanneh their sponsor for the intervention saying he could have probably dropped out of school as he wasn’t sure his parents were going to be able to raise his fees.
He said the positives of what Kanneh has done was going to be felt by even the children of his future family and “generations yet unborn’’. Sheku expressed gratitude to Kanneh for making a difference in his academic life and promised to take his studies very seriously.
Another scholarship recipient Fataba Mansaray also of Njala University hopes to graduate with a Higher Diploma in Public Health said the offer "is going to play an even greater role in my life at this moment, especially so with the burden of the rising cost of college education. She said she would be more focused on her studies instead of getting distracted by having to source for a part-time job.
In a show of appreciation to Kanneh, Mansaray said: “I want to take this opportunity to say a big thank you for all your efforts and support. May the good Lord bless you and your family’’.
In all fourteen first-year university students who hail from Pujehun District received in cash their tuition fees from Kanneh at a special event held in Pujehun last Thursday 25th January. Local leaders and family members of the students also witnessed the event.
According to one of the conditions of the scholarship programme, a beneficiary will have to show progress in their academic work each year for continued inclusion in the programme.
Copyright © 2024 (Politico 31/01/24)
