The Ghana Manganese Company (GMC) Limited has awarded scholarship to 71 students in its operational area under its 2017/2018 scholarship package.

Twenty nine students in second cycle institutions, who benefited from the scholarship scheme, received Ghc700.00 each, whilst 42 students in tertiary institutions were given Ghc2,800.00 each.

Mr Mose Ackah, the Chairman of the Education and Scholarship Committee, presenting the awards to the beneficiaries at a ceremony in Nsuta, said a total amount of Ghc140,000 was disbursed to the beneficiaries.

He said in 2002, the GMC’s instituted a bursary awards scheme for students in its 17 host communities as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

“Stakeholders in the company asked for a scholarship scheme to be introduced alongside the bursary award,” he said.

An 11 member education and scholarship committee, made up of representatives from the host communities, Esuoso Stool Council, GMC and the Municipal Directorate of Education, was, therefore, established in 2014 to implement the scheme.

He said the Esuoso Divisional Council, which manages the scheme, engaged GMC to introduce the scholarship scheme and improve upon the bursary award.

The Chairman said the committee was tasked to revise the selection criteria to focus more on mining, engineering and science related courses, adding that agreement was also reached to allow second cycle students to receive bursary whilst students in tertiary institutions received scholarship awards.

Mr Ackah said to create awareness on the scholarship/bursary awards, the committee organised community sensitisation programmes in all the host communities prior to the 2015/2016 academic year.

In the 2015/2016 academic year, 63 students benefited from the scholarship scheme as against 71 students in the 2016/2017 academic year, he added.

Mr Benjamin Asare Ankrah, the Head of Community Affairs, GMC, said the company’s ability to thrive in a competitive mining industry depended on its quality human capital, which could only be developed through education.

Therefore, supporting and improving educational efforts and in other forms such as infrastructure was a worthy course the GMC sought to champion.

Nana Kwasi Atobrah II, the President of Esuoso Stool Council, thanked GMC for the kind gesture and called on the beneficiaries to study hard, stressing that that would motivate the company to increase the number of awardees in the coming years.