Near Foundation, a nongovernmental organisation, has disbursed N11.6 million as scholarship grants to 116 students studying education at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and Kaduna State University.
According to the foundation, this is aimed at boosting the education sector by supporting government with quality teachers and thereby reducing illiteracy in the society.
The zonal coordinator of the foundation in Kaduna State, Malam Muhammad Danfulani, said during a one-day colloquium that the foundation has relief activities in the areas of education, water, health and hunger.
“Under the education relief activities, the foundation gives scholarships to students, provides stationery packages to schools and supports the renovation of orphanage schools,” he said.
Among the 116 students, Arewa Trust Weekly gathered that 101 are students of ABU with 40 female and 61 male students while the remaining 15 are students of KASU. Each of the beneficiaries will receive a monthly stipend of N10,000 for 10 months.
He added that the foundation also sponsored 40 students to a private Joint Admission and Matriculation Board exam centre in Kaduna where it spent N2.4m on the training to enable the students to secure admission into universities.
He said the foundation was also supporting 200 students with N40,000 each to write the Senior School Certificate Examination from either the National Examination Council (NECO) or West Africa Examination Certificate (WAEC).
Dr Adamu Abubakar-Sadeeq, a lecturer with the Department of Human Anatomy, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, appealed to the foundation to expand its scope of scholarship to accommodate more students in the scheme.
Mr. Behlul-Fatih Basaran, who is the president, Near Foundation Nigeria said the foundation has given scholarships to 521 students in universities nationwide.
