Accra, Jan. 25, GNA - The Regent University College of Science and Technology on Thursday launched a Jubilee Scholarship Fund to support young and academically capable people, who lacked the finances required to successfully pursue a university education.

The launch of the fund, which also saw the award of the President's Educational Grant to new and continuing students, was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Ghana's independence. It was aimed to empower the powerless through restructuring and redistribution of wealth in the economy.

It has so far disbursed 360 million cedis to students in the undergraduate category of the University since the inception of the scheme in 2005.

Professor Kingsley Kwabena Larbi, President and Chief Executive Officer of the University, said the University believed that the development of the human resource of a nation was a collective responsibility and that anyone who was brilliant but needy must be supported at all cost.

He said with the high level of poverty and unemployment in Ghana, it was imperative that some form of financial arrangement was put in place to help to upgrade the human resource of the country to enhance the creation of self-employment avenues.

He said the fund was principally meant to support needy students, who were capable of pursuing tertiary education but who lacked financial support and were likely to suffer economic pauperization and an uncertain future if not assisted.

High level human resource in areas considered critical for the nation's development and emancipation from global marginalization and those with great leadership potential in areas consistent with the vision of the University would also benefit from the fund. Prof Larbi said requests for assistance were still pouring in with some of them being very desperate, and since the University had borne the total cost, it had become imperative that the scheme was properly structured to allow individuals and organizations to contribute towards it so that more people could benefit.

He said the University had, therefore, opened an account with the Merchant Bank with seed money of 50 million cedis and called on individuals and organizations to support this venture by contributing into account number 00010/13/002511/92 for a worthy cause.

The Reverend Dr Kwabena Darko, Chancellor of the University, who launched the fund, said there was the need to support the future leaders of the country and that the higher education sector must be the pacesetter.

He said the initiative had brought self fulfilment to him and the College since it would greatly impact on the lives of individual families and communities adding "you need not be the President of a nation to be able to do this." 25 Jan. 07