Sep 05, 2012 at 11:00am

The first beneficiaries of the Tullow Group Scholarship Scheme (TGSS) are set to commence their study programmes in universities in the UK this September.

In Ghana a send-off reception was held at the Mövenpick Hotel in Accra on Friday for the 47 Ghanaians who have been awarded scholarships for the 2012/2013 academic year.

Six others who are going under the auspices of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation also joined their colleagues for the event.

The event was attended by government officials including the Minister of Education, Mr Lee Ocran, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana National Gas Company, Dr. George Sipa Yankey, Awulae Attibrukusu III, President of the Western Regional House of Chiefs.
Others include representatives from the Ministries of Energy, Environment ,Science and Technology Tullow Ghana Limited and the British Council.

The courses candidates will pursue include MSc. programmes in Economics and Finance, Exploration Geophysics, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Petroleum and Gas Engineering, Drilling and Well Engineering, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Safety Health and Environment, Advanced Nursing, LLM in Maritime Law among others. Participating universities include Cranfield University, Imperial College, Robert Gordon University, the Universities of Manchester, Leeds, Salford, Westminster, Aberdeen, Glamorgan and Exeter.

The TGSS aims to support local people to participate in the oil and gas industry, and in other sectors that promote economic diversification. This is to address both existing industry skills gaps and national capacity development requirements, and is aligned with Tullow’s aim of supporting long-term socio-economic growth in countries where it operates.

A pilot for this scheme was run in 2011 and saw twenty four candidates from public sector agencies including GNPC, Ghana Revenue Authority, the Ministries of Energy, Finance and Economic Planning and Environment, Science and Technology, pursue courses at Masters level at leading UK universities.

The scheme is being run in partnership with the British Council - an internationally recognised service provider in the area of scholarship management and partnership brokerage in higher education around the world.

The British Council is the UK’s international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations. With a strong profile in Africa, the British Council has a solid track record in running educational programmes to support development goals and priorities.

Mr Lee Ocran, Mr Kofi Esson, Chief of Staff of TGL, Mr Moses Anibaba, Director of the British Council and Mr Kwesi Twum Addo deputy director of Petroleum at the Ministry of Energy all took turns to admonish the scholarship beneficiaries to conduct themselves as good ambassadors of Ghana and return to help build a successful industry in the country.



By: Citifmonline.com/Ghana