The scholarship programme, being offered by Mensin Gold Bibiani Limited, and now owned by Canadian-based Asante Gold Corporation is in its fifth year.

It is under the mines' Asante Foundation Educational Financial Assistance Scheme, formerly Known as Resolute Foundation Advisory Panel.

The scheme, which started in February 2017 with only 10 students, is to build the capacities of local tertiary students and prepare them to compete favourably for a place in the mines in the future.

The 71 students including 35 females are pursuing programmes in medicine, pharmacy, medical diagnostic Imaging midwifery and nursing among others at the cost of GH?184,237.02.

Selection

The students were selected through a competitive bidding and selection process across the catchment areas of the mine.

The Corporate Social Responsibility Manager of Mensin Gold, Lawyer Emmanuel Aidoo, said the scheme was to manage and spearhead its community consultation and development initiatives for the community-of-interest as part of its corporate social responsibility in Ghana.

Mr Aidoo said much as the scheme focuses more on STEM Education, plans were afoot to expand its frontiers.

"Mensin's motivation for this Investment is the belief that education is one of the key tools that break down barriers. Education is also part of the foundation of all progress and growth, both as an individual and as a society," Mr Aidoo said.

He expressed the hope that the investment in the lives of the students will contribute to setting a strong foundation for the future of the local communities to enhance the local economic wellbeing.

Expansion

The District Director of Education for the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipality, Florence Afful-Dadzie, appealed to the mine to expand the programme to cover students who pursue programmes in the humanities.

She argued that a nation was not built by only STEM but by different training in various fields including the study of law to build a strong nation.

Mrs Afful-Dadzie urged the students to break all barriers and take their rightful places in society.

Board chair

The Board Chair of Mensin Gold/Asante Gold, Mr Kwame Ofosuhene Apenteng, encouraged the students to note that the only sure way of breaking the poverty barrier was education.

He told parents to cultivate a culture of savings and stop using their little capital for funeral related issues.

The president of the Ashanti Regional House of Chiefs, Ogyeahohoo Yaw Gyebi, who also doubles as the Paramount Chief of Sefwi Anhwiaso traditional area, cautioned both students and parents not to invest the money into the business.

He urged them to take a cue from the recent incident at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) where some students allegedly invested their fees in businesses including betting.

Background

The Canadian gold developer, Asante Gold Corporation acquired the mines last year from Australian gold miner, Resolute Mining for $90 million.

It will begin surface mining once a permit is granted by Environmental Protection Agency while maintaining the operative name Mensin Gold Bibiani Limited.