THE Chartered Institute of Educational Practitioners United Kingdom (CIEPUK), says it will offer 50 per cent scholarships to Nigerian students from war-torn Sudan at the Paul University, Awka, Anambra.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the first batch of 376 Nigerian students trapped in Sudan, on Wednesday arrived at the Pilgrims Terminal of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja.
The students who were evacuated from Aswan border of Egypt arrived via an Air Peace Plane and the Nigerian Air Force Jet NAF C-130.
Prof. Marcel Ezenwoye, President of CIEPUK told NAN that the Institute had also decided to render assistance to the affected Nigerian students in the spirit of ethnocentrism.
Ezenwoye said that the gesture was in line with the Federal Government’s policies on inclusive, affordable and accessible education to all Nigerians.
“We at CIEPUK are compelled to help because everything must not be left for the government alone, especially as the situation calls for urgency and immediate action.
“It would be our own commitment to make sure that as the stranded Nigerians in the war-torn country are brought back safely, we can offer them succour in their educational pursuit.
“It will be a privilege and honour of tremendous pride that we will be out there to give every Nigerian student returning from war-torn Sudan, a sense of pride and oneness in their country.
“We will offer them 50 per cent scholarship to Paul University, so that for a semester, they pay N60, 000 as tuition fees, N30, 000 for hostel and N5, 000 as medical fees.
“We are very ready to do it immediately. No time wasting. Any action that would promote national pride, national cohesion, peace and unity, we are for it,” he said.
He said that the University has an exchange programme that allow students to transfer and graduate at International University of Applied Sciences, Germany, or any of their campuses in UK, Canada, or Switzerland.
Ezenwoye said that courtesy of CIEPUK, the students can transfer and graduate after two years of studies in Paul University.
“The offer is part of CIEPUK’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and in compliance with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for access to accessible, inclusive and affordable education,” he said. (NAN)
