The College of Engineering of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has lauded investment in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by Tullow Ghana.
Speaking at an engagement with beneficiaries of Tullow’s immense support, the college Provost in a speech read on his behalf by, Prof. George Yaw Obeng, Dean of Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, said the College of Engineering, KNUST received a $352,000 scholarship package from Tullow Ghana to support brilliant but needy students under the STEM programmes.
The package, he said, initially covered 25 undergraduate and six-postgraduate students to complete their programmes between the periods of 2018/2019 to 2023/2024. However, at present, the provost said there were 56 undergrads and 20 postgrads that benefitted.
Prof. Obeng noted that the educational support programme known as the Tullow Tertiary STEM Scholarship Scheme (TTSS) has since inception, become a key component of the investment strategy with the aim of building capacity through education and skills development.
The sessions were handled by engineers from various operations and human resource department of Tullow Ghana, which afforded the students the opportunity to ask questions and presentations by the social performance team.
Through the STEM, Prof. Obeng said, field ready graduates are produced and prepared for the job market thereby enhancing the human resource of the country for growth.
The Social Performance Manager of Tullow Ghana, Mr Edmund FiifiEnchil, commended the students for the commitment to the course and justifying the investment in the stem programme.
He said education remains one of the top priority areas for the company since it began operations in the country, due to the critical role in national development.
“Knowing the importance of education, we started supporting the sector from kindergarten communities to senior high school to ensure that best care is given to all beneficiaries and ensure a solid foundation for a good start” he said.
One of the beneficiaries, Ms Donne Christie Essel, a final-year Petroleum Engineering student, said the support made life easy for them on campus especially meeting their basic needs.
“We have the support coming as a great relief for our family which made it easy for us to pay our academic and hostel fees, stipend to meet personal and academic needs,” she said.
A member of the social performance team, Mr Elijah Boye-Ampah, said presentations of the company’s social investments programmes said the speeding mentoring session afforded the beneficiaries the opportunity to understand how to set clear expectations and goals at the beginning of their journey to the world of work.
“It also brought to the fore the importance of setting boundaries at the beginning of mentorship. It is crucial to cultivating an authentic connection between mentees and our mentors.
The Chairman of the occasion, OprempongHima-Dekyi XIV, commended the company for its support for education especially in their host communities.
By Times Reporter
