Six students from the University of the South Pacific (U.S.P.) Alafua Campus will be eligible to receive a $1,000 worth scholarship from Business Systems Limited (B.S.L.) and Bluesky Samoa.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on Monday between the three institutions to officiate the partnership and to ensure the students of the university are well equipped during their school semesters.

The partnership essentially has four main focuses, the first focus is ensuring readily available Bluezone WIFI access for students at the U.S.P. Alafua Campus to take hold of excellent sources of information online.

"This service is only available to students who are registered to Bluesky's Student Sim Card which can be obtained for free, from any Bluesky Retail, B.S.L. Store or at the USP premises upon presentation of a valid I.D.," said Leeroy Feaunati of B.S.L.

The second main focus is to encourage students to extend their studies well beyond the classroom walls and connect students to a wealth of text, audio, and video content not found in textbooks to accelerate in project completion.

"Therefore B.S.L. and Bluesky Samoa are offering U.S.P. students affordable 4G Internet Routers to purchase for only $99 tala, which is heavily discounted from their normal retail price of $199 tale. 

"A 4G internet Router is a prepaid internet device, light and compact which students can take anywhere, plug it into a power socket and connect their wifi-capable devices ready to connect onto the World Wide," he added.

The other main focus is for B.S.L to continue to provide affordable student learning materials, therefore they've introduced a loyalty programme where Students can sign up and receive 10 per cent discount at any of their Retail stores, and participation on all in-store promotions.

Twenty-one-year-old Sitina Sekone from Vailele told the Samoa Observer this will be such a great help for them in terms of convenience in printing their assignments.

"Sometimes our bookshop has machines breaking down and we have to go all the way to town to find somewhere to print our stuff, but now we can directly go to B.S.L. and use our 10 per cent discount on our printings and this is will be such a great help for us here," she said.

"These scholarships are investments by both organizations to help lessen the financial strains on students and to direct their focus on excelling within their studies. Also to assist further in equipping U.S.P. Students for the future, Bluesky & B.S.L. are also offering paid working experience opportunities to the Students of U.S.P. when job placements arise," added Leeroy.

The initiative was widely welcomed by regional foreign students of the University, especially the U.S.P. Student Association President, Douglas Williams, who said this will enable them to connect with family and friends overseas.

B.S.L. and Bluesky will be conducting a roadshow to register all students on Wednesday, 9.00am at U.S.P Alafua. (BSL