Thai cement firm gifts 230 scholarships to Lao students
Siam Cement Group (SCG) has awarded scholarships worth over 370 million kip (US$45,450) to outstanding Lao students this academic year, handing out 230 awards under its Sharing the Dream programme.
The company awarded 150 scholarships to students in Vientiane and 80 to students in Thakhaek, Nongbok and Mahaxay districts in Khammuan province.
The scholarships were handed over in Vientiane at a ceremony attended by the Deputy Minister of Education and Sports, Sengdeuan Lachanthaboun.
The scholarship programme targets outstanding secondary level students in selected districts. The programme, which began in the academic year 2012-13, is a collaboration between the Education and Sports Department of the Ministry of Education and Sports, SCG Trading, and Action with Lao Children.
SCG disbursed 200 scholarships last year. The company has awarded 629 scholarships to Lao students over the last four years. In the first year 99 scholarships were awarded while 100 were handed out in the second year to celebrate the 100th anniversary of SCG in Thailand.
Providing better education
This year, 471 students from 40 schools in Vientiane and 442 students from 19 schools in Khammuan province received application forms for the programme, to compete for the 230 scholarships available.
Vice president, regional business of SCG Cement and Building Materials, Aree Chavalitcheewingul, said the programme aims to provide a better education for Asian children and to build a strong pool of human resources. The company hopes to roll out scholarship awards to other regions of Laos.
16-year-old Sengchanh Xayathammavong of Naxaithong Secondary School in Naxaithong district, Vientiane, who was one of the lucky scholarship recipients, said she was delighted to have benefited from the Sharing the Dream programme.
"I will be a dedicated student and try to improve myself so that I have a better future. I would like to become a doctor so that I can take care of people."
"I hope SCG’s Sharing the Dream programme will bolster education opportunities for Lao children and I’m sure SCG will be there to help their dreams come true," she added.
