A team of experts from Tullow Oil had a seminar dubbed “Time with our scholars 2022” for the scholars of the Tullow Tertiary STEM Scholarship Scheme at KNUST on Thursday, 1st September 2022 at the RWESCK Auditorium.
Dignitaries present were the Paramount Chief of Upper Dixcove, Obrempong Hima Dekyi XIV, Western Regional house of chiefs representative on the KNUST Tullow Scholarship Advisory Board, Prof. Mark Adom-Asamoah, Provost, College of Engineering, Prof. George Yaw Obeng, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, Prof. Ahmed Abdul-Rahman, Dean of the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Prof. Kwabena Biritwum Nyarko, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Civil and Geo Engineering.
Participants were introduced to various projects and opportunities available in Tullow Oil, the leading independent Oil and Gas company focused on Africa. Discussions were focused on green energy transition, training of marine engineers, enhancement of the livelihoods of the fishing communities and Tullow’s contribution to the green (land) and blue (water) economy.
Mr. Fiifi Enchill, Social Performance Manager, Tullow Oil said in an interview that, the Tullow Tertiary STEM Scholarship Scheme which was birthed in 2017, is a key component of Tullow’s Socio-Economic Investment (SEI) strategy with the aim of building capacity through education and skills development in STEM to prepare people for the job market.
He said the scholarship scheme provides scholarship to students from under privileged backgrounds who have demonstrated a high level of intelligence in STEM subjects to complete engineering courses. The scholarship scheme ensures that, students gain access to on-the-job training and internships that give them first-hand knowledge of the engineering industry. This will build up skills needed for future employees of companies both in Ghana and on the global market, and build tomorrow’s entrepreneurs as well, he affirmed.
He disclosed that 150 students have been supported from 2017 till date across Ashesi University, University of Ghana and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
The College of Engineering KNUST received Three Hundred and Fifty-Two Thousand US Dollars (USD$352,000) scholarship package from Tullow Oil Limited and it has supported 56 undergraduate students to complete their 4 years study and 20 postgraduate students to complete their 2-year programme from 2018/2019 to date.
As part of the programme, a speed mentoring session was held where participants were put in small groups and experts from Tullow Oil rotated in each group. They shared their life experiences with participants and had individual discussions and engagement. Participants enjoyed the speed mentoring session as it gave them the opportunity to ask all their questions and engage with the experts on personal basis.
Scholars expressed their appreciation and gratitude for the establishment of the scholarship scheme and for organizing the seminar. Sarpong Dickson, a 4th year Telecommunication Engineering scholar mentioned upon interaction with him that, he wants to work with Tullow Oil after school, and the seminar has given him great insight on how to position himself for such an opportunity. He asked that such seminars should be organized frequently.
