159 scholarships worth 460 million shillings have been awarded to University students who applied for funding from the Madhvani Foundation. Making the announcement in a press statement today the Chairman of the Madhvani Foundation Mr. Sam Rutega said “this has been the most competitive year so far, the committee reviewed over 1,100 applications and interviewed 237 candidates most of which had very strong cases for support based on their
grades and financial needs”.

He continued 145 scholarships went to undergraduate students and 14 to post graduates, the majority of which are in the fields of ICT, Business Management, Commerce, Engineering and Agriculture though other courses were also awarded.

As regards the geographical distribution of the awards Mr. Henry Kyemba the Chairman of the scholarships committee noted that all parts of the country received scholarships though the eastern region with 47 got the highestnumber while the west 40 and the north with 36 came in second and third respectively. He said the North registered the biggest increase which was
probably due the improved security situation in the region which has resulted in increased university enrollment. Demographically the ratio of female to male awardees also increased significantly of the 159 students 63
were female a trend which he hoped would continue.

In conclusion Mr. Rutega thanked the members of the scholarships committee for successfully finalizing the selection process and he congratulated all the candidates that were awarded scholarships. He encouraged prospective students who are seeking funding to apply in the next academic year 2009/2010.

The names of the students who were awarded scholarships is available on the Madhvani Foundation website www.madhvanifoundation.com

Notes to the editors

The Muljibhai Madhvani Foundation was established in 1965. In 2003 the Board set up the education trust with the principal objective being the promotion of scientific and technical educational for the betterment of the people of Uganda.

Since 2003 over 1 billion shillings has been donated by the trust to students pursuing University education in Uganda.

The annual contribution from the Foundation, 460 million represents the single largest contribution by a private sector organisation towards education in Uganda.