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The Madhvani Foundation Uganda’s largest Private education trust has launched its 2015/2016 scholarship scheme with a major announcement that the amount they will make available for scholarships in the coming year will increased by Shillings 50 million brining this year’s total up to Shillings 700 Million.
The boost is meant to cater for the more costly tuition fees for science and technical disciplines in the various Ugandan Universities.
Speaking at the 2015/2016 Madhvani Foundation Scholarship launch Mr. Gabriel Opio the Chairman Scholarship Committee said “I am delighted to launch this year’s scholarship program and want to let you know that the Madhvani Foundation board found it crucial to increase the scholarship fund to encourage and enable science scholars to pursue the much needed disciplines for Uganda’s Labor market. We realize that many underprivileged and yet academically brilliant students cannot afford these expensive courses. With this boost we hope to give more opportunity to the academically gifted students”.
Since its reintroduction in 2003, the fund has donated over 4 Billion shillings and supported over 2,000 Ugandan students studying both scientific and technical courses. The earmarked science and technical disciplines for sponsorship include Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Actuarial Science, Architecture, Veterinary Medicine, Commerce, Hotel Management, Pharmacy, Nursing, Engineering, Food Science & Technology, Information Technology, Environment, and Medicine. The students legible for the scholarship are undergraduate students, who have completed first year of studies at a Ugandan University; and graduate applicants who have been either admitted and/or registered for graduate programmes.
Mr. Gabriel Opio also commended the Madhvani Family passion demonstrated for their community acclaimed by numerous beneficiaries from year to year through their sponsorship package, which has steadily increased from Ushs 300 million in 2003 to Ushs 700 million now. “Uganda has for the longest time suffered shortage of labor and brain drain especially in the science and technology fields due to unaffordable educational costs for competitive science and technological courses and although other government organizations have come out to offer such scholarships to our students many times they study from those respective countries and required to practice there for specific periods of times leaving our country in lack of skilled practitioners” he said.
“At the heart of the Foundation’s vision is a desire to see a scheme that nurtures brilliant youth to fulfill their potential and reinvest their knowledge, skills and experience in programs that will positively benefit others.” he added.
Mr. Roni Madhvani commented on this year’s theme “Achieve your Ambitions” with an illustration of a lady driving a tractor, “This year’s theme is based on female empowerment and agriculture. I believe that empowering women means empowering a nation and nurturing agriculture is giving birth to the future. A future of our motherland”.
One of the Madhvani Foundation Alumni Association members, Martin Muganzi the proprietor of Youth at Work Initiative Uganda (YAWI), an organization that seeks to address youth unemployment, gave an inspirational testimony to encourage the Alumni to give back and make a positive impact in their communities.
Application forms for the Scholarships can be downloaded free from the foundation website at www.madhvanifoundation.com or bought for Ushs 2,000 from The Muljibhai Madhvani Foundation plot no. 96-98, Business park, 5th street, Industrial area.
The closing date for submission of completed forms is the 30th of April 2015.
