20 Students to Benefit From Databank, Students Loan Trust Fund Initiative

Twenty SHS students will benefit from the Databank Scholars Programme for the 2019/20 academic year, Databank Foundation and the Students Loan Trust Fund have announced.

The programme, which is now open to applications from the public will benefit students from deprived communities in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions who have gained admission into accredited tertiary institutions to pursue accredited programmes in Ghana, but are unable to raise the initial admission fee required to secure their place.

The Databank Scholars Programme (DSP) is a collaborative intervention developed jointly by the Students Loan Trust Fund and Databank Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of Databank Group.

A statement issued by the Fund in Accra yesterday said for the 2018/19 academic year, the programme supported four beneficiaries to enrol at the University of Cape Coast, University of Education, Winneba and the University of Development Studies, Tamale Campus respectively.

These students according to the statement were currently pursuing their dream of acquiring tertiary education which hitherto, would have eluded them.

The Head of Public Relations at the SLTF, Mr George Ferguson Laing, said "interested applicants in the three northern regions may obtain application forms from the Fund's Zonal offices in the regions or download from the SLTF website before the end of June 2019".

Programme Manager of the Databank Foundation, Ms Pebbles Parkes said that the initiative was in line with the Foundation's core objective of providing opportunities for young people especially underserved youth; helping them reach their full potential through education, academic and career development programmes.

"The Foundation supports students to overcome the challenges in their environments, and encourages them to progress themselves and their communities," she said.

Beneficiaries of the DSP are offered leadership development opportunities, mentoring and financial literacy training by the Databank Foundation.

Through this intervention, admission fees of beneficiary students are paid thereby removing the financial barrier to accessing tertiary education which is faced by many SHS graduates from disadvantaged backgrounds. After the first year of their studies, the students are encouraged to apply for loans from the Students Loan Trust Fund to complete their education.

Miss Rosemary Aryee, the Principal Manager in charge of Technical and Resource Mobilisation at the SLTF encouraged corporate bodies and development partners to come on board and utilise the students loan operational and IT platform to deliver their CSR objectives.

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