The Madhvani foundation has recognised its best performing graduates and inaugurated them into the Madhvani Foundation Alumni Association. The students Birabwa Joanita, Acana Miriam, Akakwasa Arthur, Emwogu Thomas and Mugisha Faridah successfully completed their courses and graduated recently. The five were awarded with membership certificates of the Madhvani Foundation Alumni Association by the vice chairman of the Alumni Emmanuel Ngolobe at the Madhvani Group offices.
The five are part of the bigger group of 100 students who graduate every year under the Madhivani foundation scholarship scheme which sponsors students in the disciplines of Agriculture, Biology, Business Administration, Chemistry, Actuarial Science, Architecture, Veterinary Medicine, Commerce, Law, Hotel Management, Pharmacy, Nursing, Engineering, Food Science & Technology, Information Technology, Environment and Medicine.
Madhivan Foundation Scholarships administrator Beatrice Apoto (3rd from left), Chairman Anthony Butele (4th from left) and Emmanuel Ngolobi the vice Chairman of the Alumni Association (3rd from right) pose for a group photo with the students.
The Chairman of the Madhivani Foundation Scholarship Committee, Anthony Butele while welcoming the new graduates into the Alumni said, “We are very proud of the students who value the foundation scholarship opportunity. When we recruit students every year, we are critical of their performance and integrity and our expectation is always to see them succeed and perform excellently because they are tomorrow’s citizens of this nation. I want to congratulate them and also urge them to participate actively in the Madhvani Foundation Alumni Association in order to encourage the rest who come after them”.
Butele further said that , “We look forward to having your contribution to the Madhvani Foundation and Uganda as a nation as you start on your work journey, there is so much you can pass on to the next generation to make Uganda’s professional fraternity a pride. In the Alumni Association we have Career development activities to motivate and empower both Madhvani Foundation students and graduates, this way a platform for employment opportunities, talent identification and development and inspiration is created”.
The Madhvani Foundation Alumni Association (MASS) is a voluntary organization made up of former beneficiaries of the scholarship scheme that was launched in July 2009 with a purpose of bringing together all former students who have successfully completed their studies for networking opportunities. The Scholarship scheme has been in operation since the 2003/04 academic year with the primary objective of maintaining and promoting scientific and technical education among the people of Uganda.
It supports both under and post graduate underprivileged Ugandan students who prove themselves academically. The scholarship covers tuition fees only from second year to completion for undergraduates; and for the entire program of study for the post graduate students from the time of the award. The scholarships can be accessed in all universities in Uganda that have no affiliation to foreign universities. Over 150 university students were taken on this year with a Foundation scholarship worth Ushs 650million .
The Award break down was 135 undergraduate and 17 postgraduate scholarships to students from across the country and the analysis indicated an 11% increase in beneficiaries from Eastern Uganda between 2012/13 and 2013/14 making them the highest recipients of this year’s awards with 53 slots (representing 35% of the total). Recipients from Central region came in second with 42 slots, Northern region with 31 slots and Western region which had the most slots last year got 26 positions this year.
The Madhvani Foundation was established in 1962 on the eve of Uganda independence to honour the vision of the founder of the Madhvani group the late Muljibhai Prabhudas Madhvani. In 2003 the Board set up the University education trust with the principal objective being the promotion of scientific and technical education for the betterment of the people of Uganda. Since 2003 the trust has educated over 1,300 University students and provided scholarships worth over Ushs 3 billion