MTN Ghana has awarded 500 scholarships to tertiary students and teachers pursuing science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and technical programmes, as part of efforts to expand educational opportunities and address financial barriers.
The scholarships, announced at the 2026 MTN Bright Scholarship Awards in Accra, comprise 300 awards for students in public tertiary institutions and 200 for teachers seeking to improve their knowledge and professional competencies.
Stephen Blewett, Chief Executive Officer of MTN Ghana, said the programme reflected the company’s commitment to helping talented young people overcome financial difficulties and develop the skills needed to contribute to national development.
He said each scholarship covered tuition and accommodation, alongside a laptop and a stipend to support beneficiaries throughout their studies.
Blewett said the initiative was particularly important as MTN Ghana marked its 30th anniversary, providing an opportunity for the company to invest in the next generation of professionals and leaders.
“Your financial circumstances need not set limits on your ambition,” he told the beneficiaries, urging them to seek guidance, persevere through academic difficulties and apply their knowledge to solving real-world problems.
He encouraged students to use technology, including artificial intelligence, responsibly to support their learning rather than allowing it to replace independent thinking and academic work.
He said Ghana’s digital future required people who could create solutions and solve problems, rather than merely consume technology.
Blewett also announced that MTN Ghana would support the establishment and promotion of a dedicated hotline being developed by the Ministry of Education to enable students, parents and other stakeholders to report abuse in schools directly to the Ministry.
He said the company had agreed to assist with the hotline following discussions with the Deputy Minister of Education, Dr Clement Abas Apaak.
“We are going to make sure the number is easily remembered. We are going to make sure that it’s advertised everywhere,” he said, adding that the initiative formed part of MTN’s responsibility to the communities it had served for three decades.
Dr Apaak said the hotline would provide an alternative reporting channel for students, parents and education stakeholders who had raised concerns through existing institutional structures but had not received appropriate responses.
He said the Ministry had identified weaknesses in the processes through which allegations of abuse were escalated, creating the risk that some cases could be concealed or left unaddressed.
He cited allegations of sexual abuse involving a headmaster at WASSCE Secondary Technical School, explaining that the Minister of Education had directed that the headmaster be interdicted and the matter referred to the police for investigation.
Dr Apaak said the Ministry had also directed education officials in the affected administrative areas to step aside to allow investigations into possible failures in the reporting system.
He said the proposed hotline would allow victims, parents and other stakeholders to contact the Minister or Deputy Minister directly where existing reporting channels had failed to produce action.
“We have a responsibility to protect our learners at every level,” he said, stressing that no individual should be allowed to abuse students regardless of their position or influence.
The Deputy Minister said the government remains committed to improving access to quality and equitable education, but acknowledged that financial difficulties continued to prevent some talented students from pursuing their academic ambitions.
He said initiatives such as the MTN Bright Scholarship programme complemented government efforts by providing financial assistance to students who might otherwise struggle to remain in school.
Georgina Asare Fiagbenu, Acting General Manager for Sustainability and Shared Value at MTN Ghana, said the scholarship programme formed part of the company’s corporate social responsibility focus on health, education and economic empowerment.
She said the programme was inherited from Scancom’s earlier operations and rebranded as the MTN Bright Scholarship programme in 2017.
Fiagbenu said the awards targeted students in public universities, alongside teachers seeking further training to strengthen their capacity to support learners.
She said the company had introduced measures to monitor beneficiaries’ academic performance, with continued support linked to their ability to maintain the required standards.
According to her, the programme had helped beneficiaries achieve strong academic results, including first-class degrees, while others had progressed into professional careers that contributed to national development.
She urged beneficiaries and the public to help publicise the programme so that more eligible students could become aware of the available support.
Blewett highlighted the experience of Thompson Kawoktu Kombat, who spent a year at home after completing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination because his family could not afford university admission fees.
With support from the MTN Ghana Foundation, Kombat enrolled at the University for Development Studies, where he graduated with distinction and received awards as the overall best male graduating student, the best student at the School of Pharmacy and the best student in pharmacology and herbal medicine.
Blewett said the student’s experience demonstrated how financial assistance could help unlock talent that might otherwise remain unrealised.
He said the MTN Bright Scholarship programme had supported 1,220 students since its introduction in 2018, producing 17 valedictorians and 299 first-class graduates, alongside other beneficiaries who had earned second-class honours.
He said the latest awards attracted 5,194 applications, of which 1,200 applicants were interviewed before 500 were selected.
Fourteen of the selected beneficiaries were persons with disabilities, reflecting the programme’s reach among students with different needs.
Blewett said the awards also recognised the contribution of teachers, who needed opportunities for continuous professional development to improve the quality of education.
He urged the beneficiaries to make the most of the opportunity and extend support to others as they progressed in their careers.
He said the programme demonstrated the importance of cooperation among businesses, educational institutions, families and government in ensuring that financial hardship did not prevent young people from achieving their potential.
