12 stds.receive FATE/Tiko Council scholarship

The faces of some 12 underprivileged pupils lit up on September 19, as FATE (an NGO) in collaboration with the Tiko Council, handed out a FCFA 250,000 scholarship grant, to enable them pay their fees for this academic year.

Daniel Ojong, father to one of the recipients, Miriam Ojong, told the pathetic story of how her daughter is in Class Six, instead of Form Two, because she was compelled to stay at home for two years due to his ill health. The FATE grant was, therefore, a rescue package that has re-ignited Miriam’s educational pursuits.

“I want to thank FATE and the Tiko Council and pray that God should continue to bless them,” Miriam’s father said.

“I am very happy for this gesture and want to thank FATE and promise never to disappoint them …,” was the hearty response of Bertha Musango Etonge, a Class Six pupil of Government School Modeka.

The President of the Foundation for Applied Technology in Education, FATE-Cameroon, Barrister Stanislaus Ajong, speaking on behalf of his organization, stated that the FCFA 250,000 was just the first tier of a total of FCFA 750,000 that they shall be awarding to underprivileged kids within the Tiko Municipality between now and December.

He disclosed that this first grant was meant to target kids who could not or have been driven away from school due to their parents’ inability to pay fees.

Meanwhile, he said, the second batch of recipients of the next tier of FCFA 250,000 shall be pupils who are already in school but cannot meet up with the payment of their fees. These pupils are those FATE intends to reach in October, while in December, the last set of recipients shall be those who have paid fees but are unable to procure books to complement their studies.

The Mayor of Tiko, Daniel Mokoundo, thanked FATE , saying the action was the fruit of a partnership which his Council signed in January 2014 with the NGO. Mokoundo urged the recipient kids to show appreciation by ensuring that they pass their exams.

The recipients were drawn from Government School Modeka, Catholic School Misselele and Presbyterian School Misselele. Mayor Mokoundo thanked the Committee for the job they did in selecting the recipients of which, he said, was based on ‘total transparency’. “I think that as Mayor of Tiko, I feel very elated at what has just happened here today,” Mokoundo said.

One of the Committee members disclosed that one of the problems they noted which was greatly hampering education of some of the peripheral communities within the Tiko Municipality was the high rate of pupils who do not have birth certificates.

The Committee observed that this has handicapped the education of kids, in that some end up not writing their final examinations.

“It is very pathetic to hear that some kids end up being unable to write their elementary school exams simply because of the lack of a birth certificate,” the Mayor said.

In the meantime, Barrister Ajong said they were going to work with the Council to see how they can get birth declaratory judgments from the High Court which they shall use to establish birth certificates for these beleaguered kids.

Ajong also promised that FATE shall continue to assist the kids through the years with the help of their partner organisation in the United States. He said they were planning to assist schools with computers as part of their 2015 programme.

“I am very thankful to our partners in the US who are supporting us in this venture and also to the Tiko Council for their collaboration in ensuring that our convention is fulfilled,” Barrister Ajong stated.