BUCHANAN, Grand Bassa – Amid numerous calls for Grand Bassa leaders to prioritize education at the county council sitting, county authorities have allocated US$87,500 to the Grand Bassa Educational Foundation.
At the county council sitting in Buchanan on Friday, the delegates agreed to set aside the amount to enable the Foundation to provide scholarships to students originating from the county.
The Grand Bassa County Education Foundation is an educational endowment fund established at a county council sitting two years ago to provide scholarships to needy students from the county.
The chair of the council, Sen. Nyonblee Karngar-Lawrence, said the amount has two components: US$50,000 will allow the foundation to provide more scholarships while US$37,500 will go towards the tuition arrears payment for Grand Bassa University Student Union members.
According to the current president of the Grand Bassa University Student Union, Dixon Yeagar, his leadership inherited US$75,000 as arrears owed by members of GBUSU at various universities in the country.
He said the debt prevented 120 students from graduating at various private universities. Yeagar said the union would ensure proper documentation for how it uses the funds. He admitted that funds provided in the past by county authorities had been mismanaged or misapplied by the student leadership before him.
In the past, the county had provided US$100,000 in scholarship to the student union but that benefited only members of the union, leaving out students who were not members, including those at grade school levels. This prompted the county authorities to establish the Grand Bassa Education Foundation.
Since 2016, the foundation has provided scholarships to over 573 students according to the office manager, Amos Boeyou, who said the scholarship is being provided to students from the primary school level through graduate school.
Some residents of Grand Bassa who spoke to The Bush Chicken recently said the scholarship Foundation establishment by the county leadership has brought some level of relief to less fortunate students and parents across the county.
Featured photo by Sampson David
