By Timothy Ekpo
UYO
The Akwa Ibom Government has released the sum of N100 million to be disbursed to students with disabilities studying in tertiary institutions across the country.
The commissioner for education, Mrs. Idongesit Etiebet, who presented the cheques to the beneficiaries at the Ministry of Education, Idongesit Nkanga Secretariat, Uyo, said the gesture was in fulfilment of Governor Umo Eno’s recent pronouncement of the N100,000 million scholarship grant to students in the state.
Etiebet described the governor’s gesture in fulfilling his promise to students with disabilities in higher institutions as a massive blessing of Eno’s administration to physically disadvantaged students.
She said, in the first phase of the programme, 106 students with disabilities, comprising indigenes and residents have received cheques ranging from N250.000 and N300.000 for undergraduate and post-graduate students respectively.
She said the governor has commenced the building of 10 model schools in the 10 federal constituencies of the state, saying that Christ The King (CKS) model primary school project has gotten to 99 per cent completion.
While appreciating the governor’s gesture, Etiebet described the governor as a promise keeper, noting that many promises made by him during his political campaign have been fulfilled.
The commissioner noted that Eno had recently flagged off the construction of Model Government Primary School in Idung Offiong community in Eket Local Government and others in fulfilment of his administration’s one project per local government area initiative.
Etiebet assured that the present administration was working to ensure that school children in the state were provided with educational materials including uniforms, policy of education for all initiatives that cover people living with disabilities, with the pronouncement of a hundred million naira educational trust fund with the payment.
In their goodwill messages, the permanent secretary, Ministry of Education, Lady Rose Bassey, and her counterpart in the Ministry of Women Affairs, Mrs. Margaret Edem, admonished the students to focus on their academic activities as government has taken care of funding of their education.
Setting the tone for the event, the executive secretary of the State Scholarship Board, Mrs. Eme Okodi, said there exists no discrimination in Eno’s administration as exemplified with the launch of the education intervention fund to students living with disabilities.
The personal assistant to the governor on persons with disabilities, Comrade Ubong Ikpe, thanked the governor for funding the education of students with disabilities in the state and charged the beneficiaries to reciprocate by graduating with good results at the end of their educational programmes.
The state chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities (JONAPWD), Mr. Anietie Jackson, and the national president of NAAKISS worldwide, Comrade Ubong Ekwere, said with the grant, they were happy that the state governor has taken interest of students very important.
The event featured the presentation of cheques to the students.
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