Over 1,000 applications from poor and struggling students at various higher institutions of learning in Uganda were recently handed over to the Chairman of the Madhvani Scholarship Committee, Henry Kyemba for possible selection into the Shs. 450 million – scholarship scheme.

‘’We have ended the registration and receiving of the applications that we even extended for one more week so that we have as many applications as possible and also ensure that no student misses out’’, the Administrator of Madhvani Scholarship Foundation, Beatrice Apoto said recently, adding: ‘’now it’s up to the board to go ahead and endorse those who qualify.’’

Speaking to Daily Monitor, Mr. Kyemba said his committee would do an excellent job and ensure that the scholarships benefit the intended target group – the poor and struggling students in different Universities in Uganda.

‘’I assure you that we shall do everything possible to see that we do the job well’’, Mr. Kyemba said. Muljibhai Madhvani Scholarship Foundation has since increased its scholarship funding from Shs. 400 million to Shs. 450 million to cope with the overwhelming demand of needy students and rising tuition fees at higher institutions of learning.

On average, for a student to enroll for a science course at the University, he /she has to pay Shs. 700,000 per semester, a figure that so many people especially the rural people struggle to raise. Madhvani’s Shs. 450 million is so far the largest single contribution by a private sector company towards education in Uganda.

According to Mr. Kyemba, the founder of the Scholarship Foundation – Muljibhai Madhvani strongly believes that the future of Uganda lies in the sciences and technical education hence the establishment of Madhvani Scholarship Fund.

About 75 per cent of the scholarships will be extended to undergraduate courses and 25 per cent to post graduate courses. Only students who do Agriculture, IT, Commerce, Medicine, Engineering and Law will qualify for the scholarships.