Kaduna opens portal for bursary, scholarship applications

From Femi Oyelola and Yusuf Idris Kaduna

The Kaduna State Scholarships and Loans Board has said it has opened portal for bursary and scholarship applications for year 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 academic sessions.
Speaking at a news conference in Kaduna, the Executive Secretary of the Board, Malam Hassan Rilwan, said the applicants will write Computer Based Test, just as he advised interested applicants to apply online at scholarship.kdsg.gov.ng.
The Executive Secretary further disclosed that there are four categories in the scholarship package, which include the Merit-based, Need-based and Sports as well as People Living With Disabilities packages.
Malam Hassan further explained that all applicants are expected to write an essay of personal statement, adding that thereafter, they will write a Computer Based Test as part of the evaluation process.
He added that the Board is going into partnership with a Non-Governmental Organisation:”Knowledge for the Blind Initiative to serve as accreditation centre for computers with Braille and other special software to aid the blind”
According to him, the merit-based package requires the excellent performance of the applicant, after the initial filings, for a candidate to be eligible.
Malam Hassan also said that the Board will conduct an eligibility assessment for candidates who are applying under the Need-based package.
‘’For the bursary package, payment is ongoing for the 2017/2018, 2018/2019 sessions while the portal is now open for the 2019/2020 academic session,’’ he added.
‘’Candidates can be evaluated in English, French and Arabic so as to deepen the inclusion process and make room for as many eligible candidates as possible,’’ Malam Hassan clarified.
‘’For this category of applicants, we must determine whether or not they are actually in the Need-based category, by requiring the Bank Verification Number(BVN), their parent’s BVN as well as the Tax Identification Number(TIN), for them to be eligible,’’ he added.
The Executive Secretary clarified that where the parent is not capture in the tax net, he or she should go to the nearest tax office which is located in every local government, for self-assessment.
‘’For people with disabilities, they should go to a government-recognised hospital in order to obtain a medical certificate, stating the disability, in order to be eligible for the scholarship,’’ he further said.
Malam Hassan also disclosed that applicants who are applying under the sports category need letters of attestation from their school’s sports department.