By Jim John
Ten (10) students attending the University of Papua New Guinea and the PNG University of Technology respectively were the proud recipients of Ok Tedi Mining Limited’s (OTML) 2023 Undergraduate Scholarship Award Scheme last month totalling over K250, 000.00
The students are in their third year of studies, studying various sciences and engineering courses.
Of the 10 students, three are studying Environmental Science and Geology at UPNG while seven students are studying Applied Physics/Instrumentation, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Mineral Processing and Mining Engineering at Lae Unitech.
The 2023 batch of awardees include 5 females and 5 males.
The total amount of the two year scholarship program is K253, 781.44 and covers the cost of their tuition fees, boarding/lodging, book allowances, travel assistance and stipend for each student for this year.
Of the total amount, K49, 200.00 has been paid to UPNG and K204, 581.44 to Unitech.
The Undergraduate Scholarship Award Scheme is an initiative of OTML to help support high performing students attending tertiary institutions in PNG.
OTML Manager for Organizational Development and Training, Ian Strachan said the program aims to assist third-year university undergraduate students with school fees and other associated costs to ensuring OTML maintains an industry-institution relationship with respective universities that provide graduates into its training programs and workforce.
“An additional component to this scholarship is the opportunity for these awardees to conduct their industrial training with OTML. It also sets a pathway for them to join our Graduate Development program upon completing their studies,” he said.
This scholarship program is dependent on each student’s academic performance in the first year of the scholarship whereby the student must maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.5 or above to continue the scholarship for a second year.
Since the inception of the Undergraduate Scholarship Program in 2007, Ok Tedi has so far sponsored 50 undergraduates.
