The Kaduna State Government, on Monday said it would introduce a special scholarship scheme for indigent and physically challenged students from the state, studying in tertiary institutions.
Dr Shehu Adamu, Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, said the new scheme would identify such students with excellent grades and sponsor them for higher studies.
The commissioner told newsmen in Kaduna that the government would also raise the scholarship grant offered to all categories of students in line with current economic realities.
“What we inherited is a programme that gives N9, 000 and N15, 000 to arts and science students of tertiary institutions respectively as scholarship annually.
“We feel that the amount is not good enough considering the current economic realities in the country,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that the decision of the government was to give equal opportunity to all deserving students including the physically challenged.
He said: “after the restructuring, there will be scholarship on merit for the exceptionally brilliant students, a bursary for students from poor backgrounds, and allowances for the physically challenged.
“The idea is to address the peculiar challenges of students from different backgrounds and experiences in our society.
“It is our responsibility to reach out to all our students, irrespective of one’s background; that is what we intend to achieve by restructuring the current scholarship programme’’.
Adamu also said that the state’s overseas scholarship programme would be based on the manpower needs of the state.
He said that the foreign scholarship programme is also being redesigned to address the shortage of female medical doctors in the state.
Adamu said that the current administration had sponsored no fewer than 30 female students to study medicine in Uganda.
“The goal is to have enough female medical doctors in all our hospitals before the end of the current administration,’’ the commissioner said.