The Francis Faki Amanquah Foundation (FFAF), an international Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has presented scholarship packages to six computer science and computer engineering students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

It is the second time the Foundation is supporting students from KNUST, having provided similar packages to five female students around the same time last year.

Mrs Mercy Bruce-Amanquah, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation, at a brief presentation ceremony at the KNUST, said the vision of the Foundation was to increase access to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for Ghanaian women.

“We are here today to present scholarship awards comprising tuition, accommodation, stipends and laptops to six deserving young women studying computer science and computer engineering and this is to encourage them, to chart a path to change the world with the skills they acquire here at KNUST, having been selected based on their performances over the past year,” the CEO stated.

Giving a background to the establishment of the Foundation, Mrs Bruce-Amanquah said it was set up in honour of her late husband, Mr Francis Faki Amanquah, an alumnus of the KNUST who had an unbridled passion for education, especially that of girls and women.

She said research showed that 28 per cent of women occupied STEM workforce globally, however in Ghana, only 30 per cent of women are into STEM jobs, because they have limited role models in these fields to look up to.

Mrs Bruce-Amanquah said apart from the financial assistance and laptops provided to the first and second cohorts, the Foundation would also assign mentors who would engage the beneficiaries and encourage them throughout their academic journey.

Professor David Asamoah, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the KNUST, addressing the FFAF Foundation members and the Faculty of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, thanked the NGO for the gesture.

He noted that noble enterprises such as what FFAF was engaged in contributed to achieving better outcomes in the education of students.

Prof. Asamoah therefore charged the beneficiaries to give off their best so that the Foundation would still find it expedient to continue with the programme it had with the International Programmes Office, for the benefit of others.

Ms Christabel Benewaah, a level 200 computer science student and beneficiary of the scholarship, thanked FFAF for the initiative, which she said was a game changer and would undoubtedly encourage them to study hard and make their marks.

Ms Isabel Naa Norkor Noye, another beneficiary, said the scholarship package had come at a time when she needed it the most and commended the Foundation for the gesture, promising to justify her selection by producing impressive grades.

Other beneficiaries of the intervention are Delali Mina Torgah, Khadija Ndaiya Kamil, Ikhlas Adeola Abdul-Sattar and Ampem Kobi Afriyie.