ASUU Gives Scholarships To 13 Indigent UNIPORT Students
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) branch, in an effort to cushion the effects of hikes in tuition fees in government-owned universities across the country, has awarded scholarships to 13 indigent students of the varsity.
The scholarship, in two segments; the National ASUU Awards and the State Branch Approved Awards, is aimed at making learning easier as well as lift financial burdens off the shoulders of beneficiaries and their families.
Speaking during the award ceremony, Uniport ASUU chairman, Chima Uzoma, stated that government funding for tertiary has not fared any better since the union decided to call off its eight months of industrial actions last year.
The ASUU chairman explained that beneficiaries were carefully handpicked, saying hundreds of students applied with students not having a 3.0 Cumulative Grade Point Average(CGPA) dropped.
At the ceremony, beneficiaries received cheques ranging from N100,000 to N200,000.
Also, two students won the national scholarship award of N200,000 while the remaining 11 students got the sum of N100,000.
Commending ASUU for the initiative, the Vice-Chancellor of UNIPORT, Professor Owunari Georgewill, said the institution cannot thank the union enough, saying the union’s effort has helped in cushioning the effect of hike in school fees.
He noted that the hike is a big concern for his students as he is forced to allow examiners to continue with their exams despite not being able to pay their school fees fully.
“When I saw on the notice board that ASUU is giving scholarships to some students, I said I must come, because they have lifted burdens off families, real burdens, because I know what it means even as I speak to you, there are students who are writing exams, but yet to pay school fees.”
Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, a three-hundred-level student of the Department of Chemical Engineering with a CGPA of 4.26, Adindu Odinakachi assured that they will do everything possible to see that the money invested in them by ASUU does not go to waste, adding that they have been motivated to focus squarely on their studies.
