The Executive Secretary of the board, Malam Hassan Rilwan made the disclosure at a press briefing in Kaduna on Monday.
He said other students in tertiary institutions were free to also apply for the scholarship and bursary grants through the boards online portal, scholarship.kdsg.gov.ng.
The executive secretary explained that the board has four scholarship packages, which include Merit-based, Need-based and Sports as well as People Living With Disabilities package.
“For the bursary package, payment is ongoing for the 2017/2018, 2018/2019 sessions while the portal is now open for the 2019/2020 academic session,’’ he added.
Rilwan disclosed that all applicants are expected to write an essay of personal commitment and thereafter sit for a Computer Based Test as part of the evaluation process.
“Candidates can be evaluated in English, French and Arabic so as to deepen the inclusion process and make room for as many eligible candidates as possible,’’ he added.
For students with disabilities, Rilwan said the board is partnering a Non-Governmental Organisation, Knowledge for the Blind Initiative, to provide accreditation centre and computers with Braille and other special software to aid the blind.
“For People With Disabilities, they should go to a government-recognised hospital in order to obtain a medical certificate, stating the disability, in order to be eligible for the scholarship.’’
According to him, the merit-based package requires the excellent performance of the applicant, after the initial filings for eligibility.
Rilwan also said that the board would conduct an eligibility assessment for candidates who applied under the Need-based package.
“For this category of applicants, we must determine whether or not they are actually in the Need-based category by requiring the Bank Verification Number (BVN), their parent’s BVN as well as the Tax Identification Number (TIN), for them to be eligible.’’
The executive secretary clarified that where the parent is not captured in the tax net, he or she should go to the nearest tax office for self-assessment.
Rilwan said that applicants applying under the Sports category need letters of attestation from their school’s sports department.
The executive secretary assured that the selection of the beneficiaries would be done strictly on merit.
“You don’t need to know someone in order to get it. All that is required is what you know or how needy you are and not who you know,’’ he stressed.