By Desmond Cudjoe, Tarkwa
One hundred and sixty-three students within the operational area of Gold Fields Ghana Limited (Tarkwa and Damang Mine) have been awarded scholarships to pursue various courses at the tertiary level for the 2022–2023 academic year.
The beneficiaries, made up of 84 males and 79 females, including two persons with disabilities, will study at the Cape Coast School for the Deaf.
Each student is to benefit from an amount GHc7,000 annually through the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation Scholarship Programme, thus bringing the total cost to USD199,245 for the 2022–2023 academic year.
The Gold Fields Ghana Foundation Scholarship Programme has so far benefited 2,611 youths in various disciplines. 120 scholarship beneficiaries out of the 2,611 graduated from various tertiary institutions in 2023. Some of the scholarship beneficiaries are now mining employees, medical doctors, lecturers, civil servants, teachers among others.
The scholarship Abdel Razak Yakubu, Executive Secretary of Gold Fields Ghana Foundation explained that the Scholarship Programme, is open to students who have gained admission into any tertiary institution in Ghana.
To qualify, he said one must either be a native of any of the company’s 19 host communities or must be resident in that community before Gold Fields started its operations in Ghana.
“Applicants complete a form that is issued by the Foundation to community chiefs and assembly members. Before a candidate is considered for an interview, the chief of the community must endorse the form as proof that the candidate indeed satisfies the residency condition,” he said.
In addition to this, he said applicants for this award need to prove that they have obtained aggregate of 12 or better at the WASSCE level. Consideration is sometimes given to students who attend rural basic schools and continue to reside in rural host communities after SHS, even if they do not make the qualifying aggregate score.
Mr. Yakubu further explained that the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation scholarship programme is Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) bias. One of the objectives of the programme he said, is to support students in STEM programmes so they can take up roles in the company when vacancies arise.
“This is part of Gold Fields’ drive to improve its host community employment numbers,” he said.
He encouraged the beneficiaries to exhibit socially acceptable behaviour on their various campuses and said that honesty and integrity are also important.
“As scholarship beneficiaries, you are ambassadors for Gold Fields and you must carry yourselves as such. You must live the values of honesty and integrity in all you do; the Foundation expects nothing but excellent academic performance from you.” Many are those who have received scholarships from the Foundation and have made us proud.
Successes chalked
He mentioned that out of the 27 beneficiaries who graduated from UMaT this year, eight of them were awarded first-class honours. The remaining 19 received second-class honours in the upper division. He narrated that young man by the name of Joshua Eduful from Menhuntem community in the company’s operational area received a Gold Fields Ghana Foundation Scholarship to pursue secondary education. He graduated with excellent results and gained admission to UCC.
This young man, he said, applied for another scholarship and was awarded another scholarship to pursue the first-degree programme at UCC.
“He graduated from UCC with a first-class degree and then applied and gained admission to Ohio State University, USA, where he graduated last week with an MS. in Biological Sciences with a GPA of 4.0 and has been offered scholarships by three universities in the USA to pursue his PHD,” he added.
Advice to Beneficiaries
Robert Siaw, Regional Manager, Community Relations, Gold Fields Ghana (Tarkwa Mine), advised the beneficiaries to make maximum use of the opportunity.
“Take your studies seriously, if you do not make good grades, your scholarship will be revoked,” he advised.
Judith Reese Obeng, a beneficiary of the Scholarship Programme who is going to pursue Medicine, thanked the Gold Fields Ghana Foundation for the opportunity.
She advised other beneficiaries to emulate the examples of previous recipients according to their testimonies by studying harder to make their communities and Gold Fields Ghana very proud.
