The Lagos State Scholarship Board on Saturday put 600 students through oral interviews to ascertain their claims of being from the state and eligibility for 2016/2017 local scholarship offered by the government.
Speaking during the screening, the Executive Secretary of the board, Mr Stephen Oshinowo, said that the candidates needed to be interviewed to authenticate their claims of Lagos being their state of origin.
“Out of over 3000 candidates who sat for the computer based test in February 2017, only 600 candidates scored 43 per cent cut-off mark.
“We reduced the cut-off mark to 43 per cent to give more candidates opportunity to benefit from the scholarship.
“The candidates must attend the oral interview to substantiate their claim to Lagos,” he said.
Oshinowo said three panelists, selected from the five administrative divisions — Ikorodu, Badagry, Ikeja, Lagos and Epe, were brought in to interview the candidates.
He said that the local scholarship was for exceptionally brilliant students, who have made 3.5 CGPA in their various institutions.
According to him, the names of the successful candidates after the exercise would be forwarded to the governor for approval and release of funds.
Oshinowo said undergraduates would be awarded N200,000 yearly for the duration of their course, while masters students would receive N300,000 once and PhD students get N400,000 yearly for the duration of their programme.
He, however, said that candidates must maintain 3.5 CGPA throughout their academics to continue to benefit from the scholarship.
