School fee aid for Sepik youth

 By GABRIEL FITO

THE East Sepik Provincial Government is embarking on a scheme to help pay school fees for Sepik students at universities and other tertiary institutions.

Deputy Governor Ian Samuel said the scheme, which would be called the “Sir Michael Somare Scholarship Scheme”, was part of his retirement assistance to the people of East Sepik.

Samuel said while the plan has been finalised, the province is still waiting for its budget to be passed by the provincial assembly and approved by the Treasury Minister. 

“The plan for the provincial government to assist with school fees is in the pipeline, but the students had come too quickly in trying to force us to make this happen,” he said.

“They even gave us 14 days to respond, or they would hold a sit-in protest at the provincial assembly. While I appreciate their concerns, I think they were being misled by some people for their own political points-scoring.

“I would like to urge such people to refrain from using the students and strategise for the 2017 elections.”

Samuel said it was not a constitutional requirement for any provincial government to pay for tertiary students’ fees and they should appreciate the initiative taken by the East Sepik provincial government and allow the process to be completed.

“You cannot force us to make it happen for you. We will ask why you have not secured national government scholarships. Maybe you have been drinking around and lost this privilege and now you are coming around to the provincial government begging for a second chance.”

Samuel said the students should furnish their information, stating the reasons for seeking provincial government assistance so that applications could be processed when funds were made available. 

He said a criteria would be used to identify potential students and not everybody would qualify because the province wanted a return on its investment.