20,000 Delta Students Access N460 Million Assistance Fund

No fewer than 20,000 students of Delta origin have accessed N460.1 million out of the N635.7 million approved for the Students Special Assistance Scheme (SSAS) by the state government. The Chairman of the Delta State Bursary and Scholarship Board, Msgr. Buchi Aninye, made this known on Thursday in Asaba at a briefing on the activities of the board. Aninye said that the state government had approved and released N635.7 million for the 2010 and 2011 students' special assistance scheme. He said about N80 million was returned by the board as unclaimed money in the 2009 and the 2010 academic session, the money was rolled into 2010 and 2011 session. He explained that a Website for application was opened in February 2011 and closed in May 2011. According to him, at the close of the site, 52,297 students from 145 institutions applied for the assistance. Aninye pointed that the board conducted an electronic screening, which reduced the figure to 28,849 students, as qualified. The chairman said the list of the 28,849 students were sent to the various institutions for final verification in enhancing accountability and transparency, adding that 20,000 were finally cleared. He explained that 33,000 entries who fraudulently access the web were disqualified for double and fake registration, adding that the government was able to save N660 million through the screening. According to him, 400 fake students were discovered in Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT) alone. He said that the board had closed payment for the 2010 and 2011 session to enable it process the students' assistance for the 2012 session. NAN Source Daily Trust