BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Eswatini students who are supposed to go and study in different universities in India are in need of around E1.1 million to be able to pay for their studies.
This transpired today at the American Corner of the Mbabane National Library, where an agency known as Global Arcus had convened a press briefing, asking for financial assistance from anyone who could help. Global Arcus Agent Nontokozo Sibiya is the one who convened the briefing and she has roped in Mbabane East Member of Parliament (MP) Welcome Dlamini to help raise the money for students.
Global Arcus Agent Nontokozo Sibiya.
There are 31 students who are supposed to start their different courses in different Indian universities. The students have not received full scholarships and they will have to pay for other expenses such as tuition, food, and accommodation.
The students are supposed to start their courses towards the end of this year and most of them will be majoring in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) courses. However, it transpired that some of them would be doing commercial courses, ending up being chartered accountants.
Making his remarks during the event, Dlamini thanked the students for taking it upon themselves to apply for the courses in India. He said he was informed by Sibiya that the Indian scholarships they got called upon them to pay half of their scholarships, depending on the universities in which they were going to study.
Dlamini said he heard that some of the students had secured some part-time jobs, showing commitment towards making their dreams a reality. One of such students is Sicalo Mabuza, who had been schooling at Mhlatane High School and did his AS Levels at St Francis. He has been partially working as a security guard for the past three months and has been able to pay E10 000 admission fee at Marwadi University, where he will be doing Chemical Engineering.
Mabuza needs E40 000 to settle his educational fees at the university. Dlamini said he would approach many companies to secure the funds for the students. He also mentioned that he heard about one student that had been admitted to do a course in heart surgery. Dlamini said there was only one heart surgeon in the country and such professionals were in high demand in the country.
Dlamini pleaded with anyone who could give assistance. He said anyone who would want to give help should email him at dlamini.wex@gmail.com or call him on 7664 4469. Below is the list of some of the universities where the students were admitted:
- Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan
- Mats University
- P.P. Savani University
- Marwadi University
- Kalinga University
