Kumasi, Feb. 4, GNA - Five needy-but-brilliant students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) were on Tuesday given a sum of GH¢ 2,500 as awards to enable them pursue their education.

The awards were donated by the Poku Transport Endowment Fund as part of its objectives of making quality education accessible to the under privileged in the country.

The beneficiaries who received GH¢ 500 each, were Messrs Ebenezer Poku Dwobeng, an Electrical and Electronic Engineering student, Prince Twum Barima, a Silviculture and Forest Management student, Cecil Cornelius Dodoo, a Pharmacy student, Mallet Kwabla Agbemenyah, a Mechanical Engineering student and Ms Afua Duker Ntem Mensah, a Child Health student.

Presenting the awards, Professor Frank Obed Kwami, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fund, said the Fund was established by the Late Francis Poku, an Industrialist, in 1991 at a time when funding of education by government was very low. He said Mr Poku's aim was to take the lead to show the way for his fellow Industrialists to support the government in funding education. Prof Kwami indicated that the Late Poku initially chose the path of recognizing bright students on programmes relevant to 'their field' especially in the timber industry, noting that in recent times the fund had expanded its scope to cover other programmes for the benefit of all categories of students.

Prof Kwami urged the beneficiaries to take advantage of the awards to embark on extensive research to help alleviate some of the socio-economic challenges facing the nation. Prof Kwasi Kwafo Adarkwa, Vice Chancellor of the KNUST, called on corporate bodies to collaborate effectively with the university in the execution of development and academic programmes, to help make the university a centre of excellence. Ms Afua Duker Ntem Mensah on behalf of her colleagues thanked the fund for the gesture, adding that, it would motivate them to strive for greater heights in their academic endeavours.