INTRODUCTION

The Council of Ewe Associations of North America (hereby referred to as CEANA), bearing in mind the poverty and suffering of the Ewe People in Eweland, decided at its annual conference in Los Angeles in September 2000 to adopt and embrace an Educational Scholarship Program to support the efforts of the parents of Senior Secondary School wards at home. The popular notion of sources of scholarships is that they accrue from large reserves of money donated by philanthropists. The CEANA scholarship is markedly different from this notion. It is rather based on the monthly donation of one dollar each from hardworking, and sometimes poor, Ewes, in North America some of whom could not even support their own relatives’ education back home on Eweland in Ghana, Togo and Benin. Our belief is that it is better for one of the best of us to be saved than for all of us to perish.

The CEANA Scholarship is borne of goodwill, determination, commitment, dedication, hard work and love for motherland – Eweland. We hope that its recipients accept and treat it as such.

Aims and Objectives of the CEANA Scholarship

The aims and objectives of the CEANA Scholarship are:

(a) To promote healthy academic competition among school-going Ewe youths.
(b) To give financial assistance to the poor but hard working and brilliant final year students of the following intermediate national schooling structure:
i. Junior Secondary Schools in the Ghana educational system,
ii. College Schools in the Togo educational system
iii. College Schools in the Benin educational system
(c) The scholarship is intended to cover the three year pre-university schools of the nation’s educational structure below and will be adjusted to cover the corresponding number of years in case the school’s duration or structure changes in the future.
i. Senior Secondary School or equivalent academic Vocational/Technical institution in the Ghana educational system.
ii. Lycée Schools or equivalent academic Vocational/Technical institution in the Togo educational system.
iii. Lycée Schools or equivalent academic Vocational/Technical institution in the Benin educational system.

The Council of Representatives (COR), the governing body of CEANA, has accepted the following guidelines as the rules and regulations governing the CEANA scholarship. They are as follows:

Selection of Winners/Awardees
1.1 Five (5) Scholarships each from the three Eweland nations would be awarded to the final year students gaining admission into the pre-university Schools from national intermediate Schools. All candidates shall write and submit an Essay on the subject “My Financial Situation and Relative Future Career Goals” or on a subject proposed by the coordinators and approved by COR. The Essay must be submitted together with the application to the CEANA Secretariat for COR’s approval.
1.2 The Scholarships cover three years of the pre-university institutions or as the duration may be structured in the future.
1.3 The recipients should have performed well in the final national intermediate Examinations as determined by the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) or by examining governing body of Ghana, Togo and Benin and reviewed by the Scholarship Awards Committee comprising of the Scholarships Coordinators in Ghana, Togo and Benin, then by the CEANA Secretariat and finally by the COR.
1.4 The award recipient should be Ewe by birth; that is, one of his or her parents should be an Ewe.
1.5 The award recipient should have attended the intermediate School in Eweland and be proceeding to a pre-university institution in Eweland.
1.6 The award recipient should have attended a Public intermediate School and NOT a Private intermediate School.
1.7 Except otherwise stated, the same amount shall be awarded to all the awardees.
1.8 Apart from good academic performance, award recipient must establish economic need for the awards. Preference will be given to very good students who have proven need for financial assistance.
1.9 Scholarship recipients who will like to cross national borders to continue with their education will be permitted to transfer their scholarships provided they remain in Eweland.
1.10 As CEANA scholarships are awarded for use in Eweland, any recipient who shall transfer outside Eweland shall forfeit his or her scholarship. His/Her scholarship shall be re-awarded by COR on the recommendations of the Secretariat and the Educational Committee.
1.11 Write an Essay on the subject “My financial situation and relative future career goals” or on a subject proposed by the coordinators and approved by COR.

2. Maintaining the CEANA Scholarship

2.1 CEANA Scholarship recipients shall maintain above average academic performance. Disciplinary actions shall be taken against award recipients who fail to maintain good performance. Any recipient of CEANA scholarship, who fails his/her classes and are denied promotion to the next class, shall forfeit their CEANA scholarship unless it is determined that the failure is due to prolonged hospitalised illness.
2.2 If a scholarship recipient is dismissed from school for misconduct and or for reason other than academic (including pregnancy or related sexual activities), he/she shall forfeit his/her scholarship. Should the said recipient transfer to another school in Eweland and still need assistance, the Educational Committee and the Secretariat shall investigate and recommend to COR if the award should be renewed. Under no circumstances, should the CEANA scholarship be paid for a student who repeats a class other than stated in 2.1 above.
2.3 CEANA scholarships shall be awarded to individuals. They shall be neither transferable not inheritable.

3. Method of Payment

3.1 No percentage of the CEANA scholarship shall be given to the individual winner.
3.2 The total value of the scholarship shall be paid directly to the winner’s school through the local coordinators if possible and shall be used to pay for school fees. Any individuals who shall make private arrangements with their schools to cash the CEANA scholarship for personal use shall forfeit their awards. Receipts (in the total amount of the scholarship) from the schools of the CEANA scholarship winners shall be kept on file at the Secretariat for audit purposes.
3.3 Should a chosen CEANA scholarship winner be known to have received another award (be it private or government) for the payment of his/her school fees, the CEANA scholarship shall be returned to CEANA and the COR shall re-award the scholarship accordingly or disburse it as it deems appropriate.

4. Renewal

4.1 CEANA Scholarships are awarded yearly and are subject to yearly renewal per the following provisions.
4.2 In order to obtain renewal, each CEANA scholarship recipient shall submit his/her academic results for the preceding year and a testimonial from his/her House Master/Mistress or School Principal through their Scholarships Coordinator in Ghana, Togo and Benin for CEANA Secretariat’s review. These documents must be sent to the CEANA Scholarships Coordinators in the respective country (Ghana, Togo and Benin) to reach the coordinator before the end of February of each year the renewal is sought. The coordinator shall submit same to the CEANA secretariat by the end of June of that year. The Secretariat shall submit the said documents to COR by the end of July or explain why scholarship shall not be renewed for a specific year in which clause 4.2 shall be used to deny a student scholarship. 4.3 CEANA shall reserve the sole right and responsibility to award CEANA scholarships, deny CEANA scholarships, approve renewal, deny renewal, seeks reimbursement and to re-award all CEANA scholarships as it deems appropriate and its decisions shall be final. This “sole right and responsibility” must always be approved by the COR else the act of denial of renewal shall become a nullity.

5. Privately Sponsored Scholarships

CEANA shall continue to render the service of coordinating privately sponsored /owned scholarships for CEANA-member donors in the Ewe Community.

5.1 In order to maintain the integrity of such scholarships, CEANA shall accept the total amount of all private scholarships (covering the entire duration of the pre-university education) upfront.
5.2 Private scholarships shall bear the names of their donors or the names given to the scholarship by their donors.
5.3 Generally, private scholarship donors shall pick winners from the shortlist prepared by the Scholarships Coordinators and the Secretariat. Should a private donor demand criteria other than those already in use (by the Secretariat), he/she/it shall submit a written guideline to the Secretariat outlining such criteria. The Private Sponsor(s) shall pay an administrative fee to implement their procedure. The cost of the administrative fee shall be determine by COR
5.4 Private Scholarships shall be governed by the same guidelines as the CEANA Scholarships. Should a private donor demand different guidelines, the sponsor shall present such written guidelines to the Secretariat and shall pay an administrative fee as stated in 5.3 above.
5.5 CEANA shall administer/coordinate all private scholarships as stated by the donor’s documented criteria for selections and guidelines. CEANA shall not be responsible for any legal and/or other issues relating to the criteria and guidelines of the private scholarships. The donors shall be responsible for answering any such questions if and when they arise. Such questions must be communicated to the respective the private donor by the secretariat in a written format and shall be documented or filed.