APM Terminals Liberia through its Corporate Social Initiatives has distributed another set of scholarship funds to students within Districts 13 and 14 in Montserrado County. This is the third year in the series of disbursements being made under the company's educational scholarship scheme which has 120 students receiving scholarships from six institutions across APM Terminals Liberia's catchment communities.
At an event held at the Freeway Baptist High School Auditorium, the beneficiary students were presented with another set of scholarship packages. These students were selected based on merit from six schools after meeting a needs assessment conducted in close consultation with APM Terminal Liberia stakeholders.
This round of scholarship amounted to about LRD 3,000,000 (3 million Liberian dollars) in fees and is expected to empower these brilliant but disadvantaged school children to make the best out of their education.
Speaking at the presentation event, the Chair of APM Terminals Liberia CSR Committee and Head of HSSE and Asset Maintenance, Mr. Habib Sheriff reiterated the company's goal for these social investments.
"This is one of the flagship programs under our many CSR initiatives and we are happy to do this for the third time successfully. Students have continued to enjoy this program and for us, we continue to make these investments to demonstrate that we are committed to raising the next set of leaders and committed to using education as a tool to transform the Liberian society" Mr. Sheriff remarked in a welcome address.
In response to the gesture, the Assistant Minister for Student Personnel Services at the Ministry of Education, Hon. Tarnue Marwolo Bongolee expressed appreciation to the company and admonished the beneficiary schools and students to make good use of the opportunity.
"On behalf of the Ministry and government, I want to appreciate APM Terminals Liberia for the opportunity they are giving to these children. Some of you benefiting today are now out of the statistics of those who cannot afford to be in school because their parents cannot pay their fees and this has been made possible by APM Terminals Liberia. I encourage you and the schools on this program to make good use of this opportunity."
The Representative of District 13, Montserrado County, Edward Papay Flomo also expressed appreciation to the company and promised to continuously collaborate with APM Terminals Liberia and other stakeholders to improve education in the area.
"Let me say a very big thank you to the APM Terminals Liberia family for embarking on such a brilliant initiative for the people of Districts 13 and 14 and for the country as a whole. For some years now this company has taken the responsibility of paying the fees of some of our children in this area and that brings relief to all of us. We are going to work together collectively to advance the interest of our people."
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
On behalf of all beneficiaries, 6th Grade Students at Boakai Konneh Foundation School, Princess Cooper thanked APM Terminals Liberia and its management for the investment in their lives.
"On behalf of all beneficiaries, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to APM Terminals Liberia for giving us the opportunity to rekindle our hopes for a better future. I remember years back, I was a constant victim of fees sacking in my school but since the inception of this scholarship program, I have been learning under a relaxed atmosphere without any hindrance, thanks to APM Terminals Liberia"
APM Terminals Liberia's scholarship scheme was launched in December 2021 as an intervention targeted at assisting brilliant but disadvantaged students in Liberia. Schools that get enrolled onto the scheme would have to meet the GOL-Educational requirements as well as the company's own impact assessment criteria.
So far six schools from different communities surrounding the Freeport of Monrovia have been included and more qualified schools are expected to benefit from the scheme in the future.
