Lebanese Community to extend scholarship scheme to Arts students
The Lebanese Community in Ghana, in collaboration with the Lebanese Embassy, is to extend its annual scholarship scheme to Arts students in the universities with effect from next year.
So far, only law and journalism students benefit from the annual scheme.
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The Lebanese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Maher Kheir, disclosed this when he presented this year’s annual award to 13 students of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana and said the move was to help more Ghanaian students attain higher education.
The Arts Industry
Speaking to the Daily Graphic at the sidelines of the ceremony, the ambassador pointed out that the Arts field was pivotal to every society’s evolution and growth.
He said the works of poets and writers were instrumental in inspiring values such as love, tolerance and peace which were necessary for nation building and for the well-being of humanity in general.
“We believe that artistes, writers and poets are messengers of peace, openness and tolerance. Their messages inspire love and unity for all humanity,” he added.
Scholarship awards
Touching on the package, the ambassador said it covered the full tuition and other relevant benefits for all 13 students for the 2018/2019 academic year.
The students, who were selected on grounds of merit, were mainly drawn from the second year to the final year.
The package is renewable annually.
Ambassador’s commitment
Mr Kheir said the embassy, in collaboration with the Lebanese community in Ghana, would continue to undertake such programmes that would inure to the mutual benefit of both countries and strengthen the rich bilateral ties they shared.
“I am extremely happy that the scholarship scheme has been highly successful, but we would not rest on our oars as long as there are more students out there to be reached. For this reason, we are working to extend the scholarship scheme to other tertiary institutions and other disciplines,” he added.
Dean, faculty of Law
The Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Ghana, Professor Kofi Quashigah, reiterated the need to invest in Ghana’s legal enterprise in order to create a stable environment for the country’s growing democracy to thrive.
He observed that the introduction of the scholarship, which was renewable each year, had sparked healthy competition among students of the school and translated into good academic performance on the part of both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries.
“Since its introduction, students have been working extra hard because it is added to your CV. Those who are not on the programme try to study hard to be enrolled on to the scholarship while the beneficiaries work hard to retain their spot,” he noted.
Beneficiaries
One of the beneficiaries, Kezia Engmann, acknowledged the importance of the scholarship and urged her compatriots to work hard to promote the rule of law in Ghana.
Background
The Lebanese community scholarship was instituted five years ago by the Lebanese people in Ghana to support brilliant students to attain higher education.
Over the five years of its operation, more than 100 students at the tertiary and secondary school levels of education have been supported.
The programme covers media and law students in three main universities: the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ), the University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
Besides these, some dependents of fallen officers in Ghana’s security services have also been sponsored to further their education.