The UENR had 15 beneficiaries while the CUCG had seven and each student received GHC8, 125.00 covering the cost of a laptop computer, tuition fees, books allowance and accommodation for an academic year.

Only level 200-400 (second-final year) students qualified and the criterion for selection was determined by the financial need and excellent academic performance of a student which is subject to renewal based on the consistent and even better academic performance of a beneficiary.

The students of the UENR were selected from those pursuing Bachelor of Science (BSc) Mathematics, Information Communication and Technology and Electrical Engineering programmes but contrary to the theory of gender equality, only a female who is a BSc Mathematics final year student was among.

The beneficiaries at the CUCG comprised four males and three females who are all students of the Information Communication Science and Technology programme. Professor Emmanuel Opuni  Frimpong, the Pro Vice-Chancellor (VC)of the University Energy received the laptop computers on behalf of the University administration and distributed to the beneficiaries in the presence of the a three-member Barclays Bank team at a short but impressive ceremony at the  Sunyani campus of the University.

He expressed profound gratitude for that laudable initiative by the Bank and described the occasion as significant in the life of the “young University” with inadequate resources but striving hard with quality lectureship and innovative managerial skills to prove equal to the task of achieving its mandate.

Prof. Frimpong said the package would facilitate the efforts especially being made by the academic staff to get the best out of the students to produce quality human resource for sustainable management of the nation’s energy and natural resources sector. 

He appealed to other corporate entities, charitable organisations and philanthropists to also assist the University, particularly financially to be able to achieve its vision “To become a world class institution for generating, advancing and applying knowledge in energy and natural resource sciences”.

Prof. Daniel Obeng Ofori, the VC of CUCG who also received the laptops for the students at the campus of the University commended the Bank for the package, saying it had come at the right time as a great relief to the beneficiaries and challenged the recipients to demonstrate by consistent and excellent academic performance as a justification that they deserved the package.

Mr Rexford Obeng, the acting Cluster Manager of the Bank in Brong-Ahafo Region who led the team said the scholarship packages was part of the “Shared Growth Agenda Initiative” by Barclays Bank Africa, saying that it was being implemented in all African countries where the Bank  was operating.

He explained that the Bank was not only interested in profit-making but tried to use part of its accrued profit for the holistic development of its operating countries as a form of corporate social responsibility.

Mr. Obeng said the objective of the Shared Growth Agenda Initiative was thus to develop the skills and human resource capacity of the youth of Africa to use the acquired knowledge for the general progress of their respective communities and countries in the continent. 

The cost of the laptop computer is excluded from the GHC8,125. 00, and the remaining amount of the package is deposited in the bank account of each beneficiary.