The Academic City College, Accra Ghana, has promised more scholarships for students from any school in Nigeria who distinguished themselves in their studies.
The College Senior Admissions Manager (Nigeria), Mrs Ogechi Ekpe, disclosed this yesterday during the American Mathematics competitions award ceremony at Grundtvig International secondary school, Oba, Anambra state.
The university had recently offered $40,000 scholarship to Franklin Ekene Ezeunala, the candidate who scored the highest mark in the 2019 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).
The 15-year-old boy who picked the University of Lagos as his first choice was however denied admission, as the institution has 16 years as its minimum age for admission.
Ekpe, however, revealed that former Director, National Mathematics Centre, Abuja, Prof. Adewale Solarin, was instrumental in linking Ekene with her institution, commending his passion in discovering gifted children.
She said, “We recently offered a scholarship to one of Prof. Solarin students, Ekene who scored 347, the highest in JAMB.
“Prof. Solarin has been passionate about discovering gifted and talented children. He mentors students regardless of tribe, religion, and gender.
“We wouldn’t have known Ekene without Prof. Solarin who provided us with his data. We’re very happy to be identified with such success coming from Nigeria.
“We promise Prof. Solarin and his team that any student that performs excellently and deserves a scholarship, we will make sure he/she is admitted.”
She hinted that Ekene was offered the presidential scholarship, the highest form of the offer with a complete package of accommodation, feeding as well as pocket money.
According to Ekpe, the university currently has four faculties, with that of Engineering as the most expensive.
“We don’t have JAMB in Ghana. All you need to get is 6 credits, including English and Mathematics.
“But you can’t study Engineering without further mathematics. So we face the challenge of losing brilliant students because they are deficient in further mathematics,” she added.
Earlier, the convener of the competition and National Coordinator, Academy for the Gifted, Mr. Fabowale Onyebola said the exercise was the first in the South East.
He said the choice of Anambra state was informed by the increase in performance of the schools in the zone.
He said, “The exercise challenges the students who compete with their peers all over the world as it assists in preparing them for international competitions.
“The competition tends to bring the students out from their cocoons while the liturgic are woken up from their slumber. The teachers just play the role of guidance.”
