Prof. Victor Mbarika

Some three family members of the Kumba school massacre victims in Meme Division of Cameroon’s Southwest Region have been awarded scholarships to study at the Information Communication Technology, ICT University in Yaounde.

The scholarship offered to the family members of the victims of the Kumba school massacre was announced on Monday, November 30, during a matriculation ceremony at the Yaounde campus of the US-styled institution.

The event was chaired by the representative of the Minister of State, Minister of Higher Education, Prof Augustina Fongod.

The award of scholarship to the family members came as a realisation of a promise earlier made by Prof Victor Mbarika, President of the ICT University Board of Trustees.

Speaking at the event via video conference from the United States of America, the erudite and versatile Prof Victor Mbarika said they were not only shocked by the news of the gruesome killing of the young students in Kumba, but “it is time for action in assisting the students”.

“ICT University decided that we will not be quiet about this… While we cannot bring back those kids, the least we can do is to be able to offer scholarship to members of their families such that they can get a good education and turn around to help those families,” Prof Mbarika said.

Other students with physical challenges from the Cameroon Rehabilitated Young Blind Club, CEJAC, and a host of others selected by the Ministry of Higher Education were also offered scholarships to study at the institution.

On his part, the Vice Chancellor of the ICT University, Rev Prof Emmanuel Anyambot Anya, said the scholarship is one of the innovations at the institution for the current academic year.

“We have introduced the Francophone section of the ICT University. It is an American university following the Anglo-Saxon system of education, but this year we felt that, since it is in Cameroon and it is a bilingual country, we must give an opportunity to have Francophone students to also study ICT in French,” he stated. He added: “our hope is that, though they’re studying in French, by the time they graduate they will be perfectly bilingual in English and French.”

The Board of Trustees was equally hailed for the measures implemented during the previous academic year to ensure studies unfolded hitch-free despite the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March this year.

The Vice Chancellor explained that, with the facilities they have on site and online, none of their programmes was interrupted, unlike other institutions of learning in the country.

He also called on Government to support their efforts in giving the best training to Cameroonian students by galvanising support for the construction of an access bridge and tarring of road leading to the campus located in the Nyom neighbourhood in Yaounde.

Officials of the ICT University equally pleaded with Government for the institution’s share of the 25,000 presidential laptops to universities and higher education students across the country.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that intake of students for the spring semester, beginning next February, has been opened for applicants wishing to obtain Master and Doctorate degrees in various fields of study.

National TV Report: ECU’s Professor, Stallings Distinguished International Scholar and President, Board of Trustees of The ICT University, Professor Victor Mbarika, received by The Prime Minister and Head of Government of Cameroon