Carnegie female scholarship at Makerere to end soon

Mar 03, 2009

STELLA Ayo went to the best schools in the country. She never worried about school fees like some of her school mates who would be sent home for defaulting on payments.

BY CAROL KEZAABU

STELLA Ayo went to the best schools in the country. She never worried about school fees like some of her school mates who would be sent home for defaulting on payments.

But all that changed in S.3 while at Gayaza High School; her father lost his job and her mother passed away in the same year. Ayo’s life changed drastically and after S.4, she had to find a cheaper school for A’ level.

Even with all the hard work she put in, she did not get onto the government sponsorship scheme and despaired over how she would fund her studies.

Today, Ayo is a distinguished, eloquent and confident young lady. She graduated in 2006 with a degree in Computer Science and works as a database analyst.

She is one of 691 young women who have benefited from the Female Scholarship Initiative (FSI) which was started in 2001 to assist female students from disadvantaged backgrounds get a higher education at Makerere University. In 2000, while Prof. Joy Kwesiga (then of Makerere University) was in the US, she came in contact with the Carnegie Corporation of New York and they were interested in funding a development scheme in Uganda.

In 2001 the Carnegie Corporation, under her directorship and the Gender Mainstreaming Programme at Makerere, started the FSI.

It had been noted that female students were under-represented at Makerere, especially those from north and east Uganda, and from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Carnegie Corporation has been the sole donor, but come next year, the 10-year kick start funding will come to an end and the university will be expected to take over.

The Vice-chancellor of Makerere University Prof. Livingstone Luboobi and Her Royal Highness the Nnabagereka of Buganda Kingdom and Patron of FSI, Lady Sylvia Nagginda, hosted a fundraising dinner on February 28, at the Kampala Serena Hotel for the FSI scheme. It was the first attempt to raise funds. The scheme supports only 8% of total applicants. The goal is to support the continuing students who are on the scheme and to take on more needy young women.

The scholarship covers tuition and accommodation. Beneficiaries also get capacity building in gender, self-confidence, communication and entrepreneurial skills through workshops and forums held throughout the year.

If you wish to contribute to the scheme, contact the Gender Mainstreaming Programme/Department at Makerere University.

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