Rukia Nabbanja
Makerere University through the MasterCard Foundation has awarded large number of scholarships to new entrants in the university. The students are the last group on the program who will be funded for the next three to five years.
The MasterCard scholarship is a programme that was initiated by the MasterCard Foundation in Toronto, Canada to give the less advantaged students in Africa an opportunity to learn and prosper.
Speaking at the handover ceremony on Saturday, August 10, Professor Barnabas Nawangwe the Vice Chancellor of Makerere university said that this will be the last cohort of students on the programme.
According to the Namaarwa Justine the program coordinator MasterCard, the foundation awarded a total of 432 scholarships, of which 94percent are Ugandans by either birth or other criteria and 6 percent are international students from countries like Burundi, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya Cameroon among others.
The selections began with 4,700 applications and only 432 were chosen because they were the seen as the most deserving after a long process of home visits and interviews by the selection committee.
The scholarships are meant for students from poor backgrounds but would have loved to be educated and lack the finances.
Munduru Pretty, a MasterCard scholar in the 4th cohort, who is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in developmental Economics at Makerere university thanked MasterCard for the great opportunity that saved her from getting married at an early stage due to lack of finances for her education after senior six.
While addressing the scholars, Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe warned parents against using the student’s facilitation money for other family utilities and helping the siblings.
“I hope there are parents in the building. Please do not think that these children now are earning a salary that will take care of the entire family “he said.
