By JOEL K ANDREW
THE Kerema District Development Authority (KDDA) under the chairmanship of the local MP Thomas Opa has approved K1 million under its Tertiary Tuition Fee Assistance Scheme to assist students.
This fund will be distributed equally amongst all the tertiary students from Kerema district who are currently studying at various tertiary institutions throughout the country.
Students attending universities, technical and vocational education trainings (TVETs) and teachers and nursing colleges will be supported under this scheme.
Mr. Opa assured his people and stakeholders that the assistance given through the funding allocation is not in full but the money will be evenly distributed to the total number of students in Kerema attending all institutions so that they help a greater number of students.
With the prime focus and priority on local Kerema students, Opa said it is required that students must provide substantial academic evidences to secure portion of the sponsorship.
He said students must provide documents such as valid acceptance letters from their institution, academic certificates and transcripts for formal verifications before fee payments are made.
This initiative will support about 400 to 500 tertiary students from Kerema District.
“This support and commitment simply portray a greater dream of seeing an educated Kerema district in the near future as we progress with full empowerment, provision, and mentoring on our human resource as well as infrastructural developments going forward,” Opa said.
He said Kerema DDA’s support towards education sector within the district will be of paramount focus as they aim work towards upgrading and renovating education facilities to create a conducive learning environment for the growing population.
However, the Kerema MP highlighted that students from elementary, primary, lower and upper secondary schools are not included in this scheme as they are beneficiaries of the K300 million that National Government has made available to all schools throughout the nation under the Department of Education.
Mr. Opa added that education is a shared responsibility thus, he expects high level of collaboration from parents, teachers and communities to specifically take ownership of their children’s education.
“The future of our district lies in the palms of young generation. Thus, it is our sole celestial responsibility to ensure that our children are educated in the correct way with strict discipline and continual monitoring. This momentous approach also plays a vital role in contribution towards our nation building.”
Meanwhile, the name lists of successful students will be finalized and released by the Kerema district tertiary tuition fee assistance scheme this week with the payments to be made direct to institutions at the end of the week.
