Scholarship
Another area of intervention is in human capital development. NLNG awards scholarships yearly to students from its host communities in tertiary institutions. No fewer than 2,400 students have benefitted in NLNG's host communities, Rivers State and rest of Nigeria.
Under its Specialist Education Scholarship Scheme, NLNG has awarded full scholarships to 23 cadets in the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, to support technical education development in the maritime sector in Nigeria.
Bonny Education Endowment Fund
This fund was established in 1997 to ‘top up’ Bonny teachers’ salaries. Over the years, NLNG has spent over N60 million on the project. This initially was an incentive to encourage teachers to remain in the classroom rather than drift to construction sites where the pay was more attractive. The scheme has been reviewed to ensure that it is performance-driven, as teachers' classroom performances are appraised on a quarterly basis to provide a basis for such support. A total of 168 teachers are presently benefitting from the scheme. As part of its Education Support, NLNG also:
- Provides text/exercise books and school desks;
- Rehabilitates dilapidated classrooms and builds new blocks of classrooms as required;
- Supplies science equipment
NLNG Science Quiz Competition
Inaugurated in 2007, the NLNG Science Quiz Competition aims at promoting science education in secondary schools in Rivers State. The project which took off with 8 secondary schools in 2 zones has expanded to involve 28 schools in 8 zones so far.
Bonny Vocational Centre
The Bonny Vocational Centre is an NLNG/Bonny Kingdom partnership project designed to promote vocational/entrepreneurial skills acquisition, development of technical competencies and self-reliance in youths in Bonny community in particular and Rivers State in general.
It is an educational establishment that is geared towards meeting the needs and aspirations of the community through a three-tier curriculum. It leads to the award of the International Technical Vocation Level 3 Certificate of London City and Guilds and/or the Nigerian Skills Technical Certificate. Classes started at the centre on March 10, 2005 with 20 students. At present, the centre has trained over 500 youths from NLNG host communities and other parts of Rivers state in various technical vocations & competencies in different levels.
