Some selected Senior High Schools in the Northern Region have begun the disbursement of monies to beneficiary students under a pilot scholarship programme known as the National Secondary School Improvement Project.

The scholarship package is a government policy in partnership with the World Bank which is aimed at improving access and quality of education in the under privileged Districts across the country.

The policy is to ensure a full implementation of the progressive free secondary education in the 2015/16 academic year.

2,300 under privileged day students in 125 Senior High Schools across the country are to benefit from the pilot scholarship programme.

Under the programme beneficiary students are to achieve 80% class attendance in each academic year and also improve on academic performance to continue to enjoy the package. 

The Gushegu Senior High School which is one of the beneficiary schools for the pilot project in the country has 20 day students benefitting from the project.

At a short ceremony in Gushegu the beneficiary students had their schools fees for this academic year refunded to them.

Each student received an amount of GHC400 and a monthly support of GHc100.00.

One of the beneficiary student Abdulai Fatimata told Joy News that the scholarship package will help reduce the burden on their parents.

"We will use that money so that it will help our education and everything, we will buy text books and other learning materials to improve on our performance," he said.

District chief executive for Gushegu Alhaji Alhassan Fuseini appealed to parents of the beneficiaries to make good use of the scholarship funds.

"We appeal and caution parents not to use the money to marry more wives but use it to support their children education and basic needs to encourage them to improve on their academic performance.

Headmaster of Gushegu Senior High School Inusah Nuhu said a profile of all day students in the school were sent to the Ministry of Education who after assessment arrived at the 20 beneficiaries for the scholarship.