Paheja Siririka
WINDHOEK – Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC) has awarded bursaries worth over N$600 000 to five Namibian students. The five recipients are Johanna Ileka and Lysaendo Pretorius, both from the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), Iyaloo Ndevahoma from the International Universaity of Management (IUM), Helaria Nghiikokoo from the University of Botswana, and Johannes Amutenya from the University of Namibia (Unam).
The bursary award was announced on Tuesday at the official handover ceremony by MTC’s chief human capital and corporate affairs officer, Tim Ekandjo.
“The funded field of studies are bachelor degrees in IT Network, Network Security and Computer Forensic, Computer Science, and IT System Administration,” explained Ekandjo.
He indicated that as per company norm, when the students complete their studies MTC will make provision for experiential learning and work guidance for the bursary recipients, and upon satisfactory performance and assessment, “the students will be offered employment in MTC as and when a vacancy opportunity arises”.
The MTC bursary scheme is part of the company’s corporate social investment programme driven to meaningfully contribute to education and assist the students in their academic journeys.
“We are proud to uphold the tradition of ploughing back, and helping them as they pursue to complete their studies,” said Ekandjo. The telecommunication company’s bursary scheme is a yearly effort to assist deserving students, depending on the availability of funds.
According to public relations officer at MTC Erasmus Nekundi, the bursary schemes are advertised yearly in the media and the company’s website.
“We usually take students who are in their second year of tertiary in order to track their performances before giving the bursary,” said Nekundi.
MTC’s organisational development manager, Patricia Jacobs, explained that the bursary scheme normally looks at students from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“We have bright and outstanding students in the country who are struggling to finish their studies due to a lack of funds, and with the available funds at our disposal, those are the students that we look at,” expressed Jacobs.
MTC’s bursary programme has been in existence since 2002 and has to date invested over N$5 million.