By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE
EMMY Kaluba was until July this year seeking an opportunity to upgrade her credentials to post graduate status to enhance her professional life.
On July 6, her search was over when she and nine others became recipients of K3 billion worth of post graduate scholarships from First Lady Thandiwe Banda under the Binary-First Lady of Zambia Post Graduate Scholarship Programme.
"I am greatly humbled for being one of the 10 recipients of the Binary-First Lady of Zambia Scholarships. It is a great honour and I am excited and I will always be thankful to God and the First Lady.
She has made a mark in my life which can never be erased," Emmy said.
The Bachelor in Development studies graduate who works at the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives won the scholarship to pursue a 16 months post graduate programme in business administration at the world renowned Binary University College in Malaysia.
She was hopeful that the post graduate qualification would help her acquire world-class knowledge and experience in Malaysia, a country that has become a hub of advancement in technology, industry as well as education delivery.
Emmy is looking forward to making a difference in her professional life and developing a broader understanding of issues.
Another Binary-First Lady of Zambia Scholarship recipient, David Chisanga said the scholarships were a great opportunity for many deserving Zambians to further their studies.
He said the awarding of the scholarships was being done in conjunction with the office of the First Lady would make them to be easily accessible to many Zambians as opposed to other scholarships that had a tedious application process and only benefited the elite.
Mr Chisanga who is a staff development fellow at the University of Zambia said: " when I heard about the scholarship the first time when it was launched by Mrs Banda but it never clicked that I would end up being one of the first recipients."
The free lance Information Technology (IT) specialist, who won a 16 to 18 month scholarship to study IT in Malaysia, hopes to learn how Malaysia had managed to reach its current economic state having been at the stage where Zambia is economically not too long ago.
He said Malaysia being a hub for many leading IT firms in the world would help him to get skills and knowledge that would assist to shape the Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Zambia.
He said the course structure at Binary University College was robust and industry oriented and this would give him greater skills and knowledge on ICT applications that would help in the growth of the Zambian economy as well as human capital development at the University of Zambia.
"I really give my utmost appreciation to the First Lady for this great uplifting opportunity given to me, it is because of her hard work and social welfare programmes that we have been able to get these scholarships," he said, adding that the scholarship initiative would go a long way in assisting many Zambians.
"I would also want to promise the First Lady that I will definitely come back and give back to Zambia the knowledge and skills I will attain. I would encourage her not to relent in her hard work as in helping so many Zambians," he said.
And University of Lusaka employee Mubanga Bwalya, a beneficiary in project management, said the Binary-Fist Lady of Zambia scholarship came at a time when she was looking for one to further her studies.
"I was prompted to apply for the Binary First Lady Scholarship because of the sponsor, our very own Madam First Lady, Mrs Thandiwe Banda, and also the quality of education Malaysia offers ands its good economy," Mrs Mubanga said.
She said it was because of the efforts of Mrs Banda that she would manage to improve herself professionally and to contribute to raising the profile of women in Zambia.
She said she would aim at making a meaningful contribution to the economic development of Zambia since the masters programme would make her more knowledgeable and expose her to a more advanced culture.
"If I had chance to talk to the First Lady, I would commend her for the good work that she is doing towards the development of the nation. I would say may she continue through her office to sponsor more Zambians to study so that in return they could contribute to the growth of the nation," she said.
Mrs Banda recently presented the 10 scholarships to the recipients after launching the Binary-First Lady of Zambia Scholarship programme barely eight months ago.
She urged the recipients, who were drawn from among others, Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Airtel Zambia, UNZA, Stockbrokers Zambia, to mention but a few, to be good ambassadors for Zambia in Malaysia.
She paid tribute to Binary University College executive chairperson Dato’ Professor Joseph Adaikalam for contributing towards bettering the relations between the two nations by building the first bridge of Malaysian education in Zambia.
She commended the university college for clearly showing its charitable role in human welfare by working with Zambian institutions such as UNZA.
The university college is currently renovating one building at UNZA where it would create an ultra-modern ITC centre.
The centre would be used to deliver the first ever master of science in information technology programme that would run from January 2012.
The university college is collaborating with Mulungushi University where it would run some training prgrammes for members of staff.
Dato’ Professor Adaikalam who was accompanied by his wife Datin Rohini Revi and the university’s development and marketing director Gilbert Alvin, said the applications received for the post graduate scholarships had gone beyond the expectations of the university.
He encouraged those selected to go for training to dream big and never to forget about Zambia.
He said the university offers industry specialisation programmes in banking, telecommunications, construction and other sectors in which Malaysia is a world leader.
"Those going to study in Malaysia would not acquire contemporary skills but would acquire skills that can only be acquired by being in Malaysia," he said.
Owing to the overwhelming number of people that applied for the Binary scholarships, and having been requested to consider increasing the number of recipients, Binary University College had since decided to offer an additional 20 part scholarship where the university would meet 50 per cent of the cost.
He appealed to the private sector in Zambia to aid the would-be recipients by paying for the remaining 50 per cent.
He said having undertaken to help transform Zambia into an education hub when he attended the launch of the Binary-First Lady of Zambia Scholarship in January, Binary University College had attained registration and had been given a certificate to open its Zambian campus in Lusaka in September this year.
He said the university is already planning to enroll 1000 students who would be trained in courses requiring attention, such as hospitality, tourism, teaching and science, programmes which Zambia considers top priority as regards to needs of the local industry.
"We want to look at programmes that will benefit this nation and not just produce graduates," he said.
The university had undertaken the training of local senior executives in an initiative that would involve the training of more executives from Zambia and one or two other countries in the region, which would eventually attract the participation of more landlocked countries in the region and across Africa.
Prof Adaikalam said all these initiatives are meant to transform Zambia into a hub of education in Africa.
That has been a dream shared by Mrs Banda. And the Binary-First Lady of Zambia Scholarship initiative was but an opportunity that empowered her to contribute to Zambia’s advancement.
"The Binary First Lady of Zambia Scholarship Programme is my small contribution – together with our Malaysian counterparts – to an enlightened Zambia. When I say ‘small contribution’ I mean my contribution. As for the Binary University College, I say yours is an enormous contribution," she said in closing her remarks after presenting the scholarships at State House recently.
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