The Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB) has provided 12 scholarships to some underprivileged children from villages around Buea in the South West region.

The announcement was made by the pro-chancellor cum president of CUIB, Rev. Father George Nkeze Jingwa during the first CUIB stakeholders meeting in Buea last Friday August 1.

“This scholarship will be in any of our HND disciplines in both levels I and II. The program will cover tuition (380,000FCFA) while their parents will take care of lodging”, the pro-chancellor said.

Students to be selected, the pro-chancellor insisted, must be students who cannot afford higher education and are of good morals. He insisted the students must be intelligent because they don’t want students who will come and be in the institution for the next five years. “We are also gender sensitive. That will mean that we will not select only boys or girls”, Father Nkeze added.

He announced that potential beneficiaries will come from villages including Wokaka, Upper Muea, Lower Muea, Molyko, Wokoko, Great Soppo, Small Soppo, Woteka ,WovilaSasse, Bojongo and Buea.

The pro-chancellor also noted that “This scholarship is to build the educational capacity of the villages in Buea. Any true university cannot exist without the community and we are there to serve the community; that is why we have the meeting today to remind the community of the fact that we need them; without the community we cannot exist. The knowledge is there and we want to tap it from the community and make it blossom”.

In the same light, the chief of Wokaka village near Muea-Buea where CUID’s Campus B is situated, promised to make available land for the students of the school of agriculture who will want to do practicals. Chief Njombe Njoke Johnson said that they will stop at nothing in providing support to the university whenever need be.

Buea divisional officer,KouamWokam Paul, for his part said he was very impressed by CUIB’s achievements so far and promised government’s full support to the university which he added was created thanks to government reforms in the higher education sector.

In a message delivered at the start of the event, Rev. George Nkeze explained that the Catholic University Institute of Buea (CUIB) was created by the chancellor, His Lordship Bishop Immanuel Bushu in order to train a new generation of young dynamic, talented and problem-solving entrepreneurs with moral and spiritual values that will transform and bring sustainable development to their communities.

He quipped that given the current exponential evolution of the world both economically, socially, scientifically and technologically, the institute has adequately articulated and put in place a new professional education of international standards to help the country grow more professionally and address current and future issues that imperatively require particular skills which are critical in this 21st century.