34-year-old Pandinduo grateful to win bank’s scholarship

Sinclaire Pandinduo is the winner of the National Development Bank’s scholarship programme, according to the acting managing director Aaron Underdown.
“We have received a number of applications from around the country, however, Pandinduo stood out amongst them all,” Underdown said.
The 34-year-old is from Japarakwa village in Kubalia, East Sepik.
He is the youngest in a family of eight – three sisters and five brothers.
“I lost my mother at a very young age when I was doing my grade three back in the village,” Pandinduo said.
He managed to complete his primary and secondary education through financial support from his father and older siblings.
His father died in 2016 “just when I was about to start my college education in Port Moresby”.
Pandinduo said life was not the same after his dad passed away.
“I was selected to study accounting at IBS (Institute of Business Studies) the following year, but due to no school fee, I had to put the study opportunity on hold and look for a job to help myself with school fees,” he said.
Pandinduo was recruited as a security guard with the G4S security firm and worked there in 2017 and 2018.
“I had to save every penny for my school fees,” he said.
“I reapplied to Port Moresby Business College and was accepted to study accounting from 2019 to 2020.”
After completing his first and second year at the college, he was selected to pursue a bachelor of accountancy programme this year at the University of Papua New Guinea.
National Development Bank chief financial officer Vicky Vene presented the certificate of scholarship award to Pandinduo at the bank’s head office on Friday, 26 March 2021.