The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has commenced the disbursement of N300 million as scholarships to 16,225 indigenous and indigent students of the FCT.

The scholarship is for the 2023/2024 award for indigent students in public schools.

FCT Minister Nyesom Wike said during the disbursement in Abuja on Thursday that the amount was just “scratching the surface,” considering the huge number of indigent FCT students in public schools.

Mr Wike, represented by his chief of staff, Chide Amadi, noted that education was the bedrock of any development.

The minister promised that the FCTA would sustain the scholarship scheme to provide educational services to people in need.

He also pledged that the welfare of teachers would be given due attention, including their professional development.

Mr Wike said he had approved the participation of FCT public schools in global science events and competitions.

He identified the events as the World Robotic Festival in Houston, Texas, and the Continental Open Africa AI Championship in Cape Town, South Africa.

“In addition, Wike also approved training and retraining of teachers at all levels, including the provision of vocational skills training for students, youths, women, and out-of-school children in FCT,” he said.

Also, the mandate secretary, Education Secretariat, FCTA, Danlami Hayyo, commended Mr Wike for his commitment to improving access to quality education.

Mr Hayyo said the Wike-led FCTA had invested more than N230 billion in providing education facilities and renovating and constructing new schools.

The director of the FCT Scholarship Board, Hannah David, said the board had provided scholarships to 146,000 FCT indigenous and indigent students since its inception in 2020.

She said the scholarship covers basic, post-basic, special need centres, the Nigerian Law School, and foreign tertiary institutions.

“The scholarship cuts across all categories of students, including students with special needs who are given wheelchairs and other learning materials,” Ms David said.

Ms David commended Mr Wike for the support and appealed to other stakeholders to help the board achieve its mandate, noting that the government alone could not do it.

(NAN)