By: Fatou Kebbeh
The University of The Gambia Students’ Union (UTGSU) has offered 40% of semesterly scholarship tuition fees to at least 40 less privileged students.
The move is part of the Students Union’s drive to support less privileged students.
The process, according to the dispatches shared, was very competitive because over three hundred (300) students applied.
Yunusa Saho, a second-year student from the School of Education, who is among the students to benefit from the scholarship, expressed his profound gratitude to the Students Union, saying the support is timely.
“I would have deferred if I was not lucky to be part of this scholarship like I do previously,” he said, adding that the tuition fees are high for people like him. However, he noted that even with the 40% scholarships, he will still have arrears.
“I have applied for scholarships in all institutions that offer scholarships in this country but to no avail, I am grateful for SU’s 40% tuition fee because having a loaf is better than nothing,” Saho added.
Most of the beneficiaries if not all, said they were on the verge of deferring, but the Students Union came to their rescue.
Abubacarr Ceesay a final-year student from the school of ICT said he would have deferred without the timely intervention of the Student’s Union.
The beneficiaries described the UTGSU intervention as timely and beneficial to their academic drive.
Ceesay added that he could not register because he has arrears and that the deadline for registration was coming closer, but this scholarship has helped him register his courses and he is grateful for that.
Lala Ceesay, another beneficiary who is a third-year law student at the Faculty of Law, said the scholarship will go a long way in helping her because it is very expensive to study law at the University.
“I was not expecting to have this scholarship, because I’m not very lucky with having scholarships. I feel so excited that I am one of the beneficiaries because it is really needed,” she added.
For his part, Kemo Conteh, President of the UTGSU, said despite the criterion that was set for the application, they were overwhelmed that a lot of students meet this criterion.
But he noted that the council focused on extremely dire cases during the interview.
Mr. Conteh reiterated their efforts in supporting the students to make their dreams a reality through education.
“We want to make sure most of the students will not defer their courses and we will continue to engage with partners to support the students,” he added.
He further noted that his Council is passionate about the people whom they govern and that they will do everything possible to offer support.
Meanwhile, Fatou L Darboe, a second-year student from the School of Arts and Sciences, Alieu K Dibba, a student from the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Yahya Krubally, a second-year journalism student, and Fatoumatta B Bah from the School of Medicine all expressed excitement over what they described as timely and beneficial to their academic careers.
