Vodafone Announces Scholarships worth $0.5million
10th July, 2008
Vodafone Fiji Limited today announced 40 scholarships worth around half million dollars for degree and diploma programs tenable at the University of the South Pacific and Fiji Institute of technology.
The funding from Vodafone will allow 15 students to take up Bachelors Degree in Computing Science, Information Systems and Engineering Technology at USP from 2009. Another twenty five (25) students will get to complete diploma in electronic engineering courses from the Fiji Institute of Technology. The scholarships will cover tuition and book fees for the duration of the course.
The scholarships will be open to students who attain very good grades/marks in their form 7 or foundation courses and whose parent’s joint income does not exceed $20,000 per annum. The continuation of the scholarship from semester to semester is also performance driven ie the student must achieve a minimum GPA/grade to continue to be part of the award. This is to ensure that students value the award and complete the whole program and not drop out half way which would be a waste of resources.
When asked about the scholarship, the Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone Fiji Ms Avanthi Senaratne said, “we recognize the need to support the many parents who are struggling to meet the educational needs of their children”. There has been continuous highlighting by the media of parents not being able to send their children to schools because of the very difficult economic environment. This caught our attention as an area where Vodafone could make a very positive contribution by investing in the education of our youth who are the future of this nation. There are many intelligent kids who are deprived of tertiary education because of financial constraints.
Vodafone is a majority locally owned company. The people of Fiji own 51% of Vodafone through FNPF’s investment in the ATH. Majority of our profits are retained and re-invested in Fiji for the benefit of Fijian Islanders. Provision of these scholarships is way of saying thank you to the many parents, students and the general public of Fiji who have been our loyal customers over the years. In celebrating our 14th birthday, we thought what better way to reciprocate the faith and loyalty of our customers then by giving the most precious gift of all – the gift of education.
We believe very strongly in education and training and encourage personal growth and development,” said Mr Pradeep Lal, the Chief Financial Officer of Vodafone Fiji. Development and investment in the human capital is the only way to maintain a competitive advantage for your business.
“Many of our own staff have been offered scholarship to pursue courses at various institutions both locally and abroad. One of our own staff who started as customer care reps now holds the position of Manager Value Added Services portfolio in the company having completed his Master degree through a scholarship offered by the company.
The scholarships are tenable from semester one of 2009. The early announcement of the scholarships gives the students a fair chance to compete for the 40 places. They have been given ample notice to put in their best efforts towards winning these scholarships. The 40 scholarship are now a beacon of hope to the many parents whose children would otherwise miss out on tertiary education.
Vodafone is privileged to be able to offer these scholarships to recognize the many hard working and intelligent kids who deserve this opportunity. We are committed to the future of Fiji and these 40 scholarships are our investment in the development of the human resources of the country.
After the signing of the MoU, the Acting Vice Chancellor of USP, Dr Esther Williams said, “We highly appreciate the support of Vodafone Fiji Limited to the education sector – Vodafone is a world leader in mobile telecommunications, and we believe that the scholarship program not only encourage talented young Fijians to excel in their studies but also open up new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between USP and Vodafone".
Through these funding assistance, USP together with Vodafone aims to cultivate and foster highly skilled and talented students for Fiji’s workforce.
About Vodafone Fiji:
Vodafone Fiji Limited is part of Vodafone Group Plc, a leading mobile communications company with over 330 million proportionate customers worldwide. Vodafone Fiji which is a partnership with ATH Group and provides mobile telecommunications services to 600,000 Fiji customers. The global company has equity interests in 26 countries and partner networks in a further 33 countries, the largest global footprint.
10th July, 2008
Vodafone Fiji Limited today announced 40 scholarships worth around half million dollars for degree and diploma programs tenable at the University of the South Pacific and Fiji Institute of technology.
The funding from Vodafone will allow 15 students to take up Bachelors Degree in Computing Science, Information Systems and Engineering Technology at USP from 2009. Another twenty five (25) students will get to complete diploma in electronic engineering courses from the Fiji Institute of Technology. The scholarships will cover tuition and book fees for the duration of the course.
The scholarships will be open to students who attain very good grades/marks in their form 7 or foundation courses and whose parent’s joint income does not exceed $20,000 per annum. The continuation of the scholarship from semester to semester is also performance driven ie the student must achieve a minimum GPA/grade to continue to be part of the award. This is to ensure that students value the award and complete the whole program and not drop out half way which would be a waste of resources.
When asked about the scholarship, the Chief Marketing Officer of Vodafone Fiji Ms Avanthi Senaratne said, “we recognize the need to support the many parents who are struggling to meet the educational needs of their children”. There has been continuous highlighting by the media of parents not being able to send their children to schools because of the very difficult economic environment. This caught our attention as an area where Vodafone could make a very positive contribution by investing in the education of our youth who are the future of this nation. There are many intelligent kids who are deprived of tertiary education because of financial constraints.
Vodafone is a majority locally owned company. The people of Fiji own 51% of Vodafone through FNPF’s investment in the ATH. Majority of our profits are retained and re-invested in Fiji for the benefit of Fijian Islanders. Provision of these scholarships is way of saying thank you to the many parents, students and the general public of Fiji who have been our loyal customers over the years. In celebrating our 14th birthday, we thought what better way to reciprocate the faith and loyalty of our customers then by giving the most precious gift of all – the gift of education.
We believe very strongly in education and training and encourage personal growth and development,” said Mr Pradeep Lal, the Chief Financial Officer of Vodafone Fiji. Development and investment in the human capital is the only way to maintain a competitive advantage for your business.
“Many of our own staff have been offered scholarship to pursue courses at various institutions both locally and abroad. One of our own staff who started as customer care reps now holds the position of Manager Value Added Services portfolio in the company having completed his Master degree through a scholarship offered by the company.
The scholarships are tenable from semester one of 2009. The early announcement of the scholarships gives the students a fair chance to compete for the 40 places. They have been given ample notice to put in their best efforts towards winning these scholarships. The 40 scholarship are now a beacon of hope to the many parents whose children would otherwise miss out on tertiary education.
Vodafone is privileged to be able to offer these scholarships to recognize the many hard working and intelligent kids who deserve this opportunity. We are committed to the future of Fiji and these 40 scholarships are our investment in the development of the human resources of the country.
After the signing of the MoU, the Acting Vice Chancellor of USP, Dr Esther Williams said, “We highly appreciate the support of Vodafone Fiji Limited to the education sector – Vodafone is a world leader in mobile telecommunications, and we believe that the scholarship program not only encourage talented young Fijians to excel in their studies but also open up new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation between USP and Vodafone".
Through these funding assistance, USP together with Vodafone aims to cultivate and foster highly skilled and talented students for Fiji’s workforce.
About Vodafone Fiji:
Vodafone Fiji Limited is part of Vodafone Group Plc, a leading mobile communications company with over 330 million proportionate customers worldwide. Vodafone Fiji which is a partnership with ATH Group and provides mobile telecommunications services to 600,000 Fiji customers. The global company has equity interests in 26 countries and partner networks in a further 33 countries, the largest global footprint.
