A total of 50 students who completed their foundation studies last year at the National University of Samoa (N.U.S.) are recipients of the Government of Samoa’s local scholarships.

The selected students will be awarded their scholarships before January 31 which is when student enrollment is expected to close at the university.

The N.U.S. Acting Vice Chancellor, Peseta Dr. Desmond Mene Lee-Hang, confirmed the awarding of 50 local scholarship recipients as he expressed his gratitude to the Government for their support of the students.

"The N.U.S. is very grateful for the assistance by the Government through this scholarships, not only locally but also internationally,” he said in an interview with the Samoa Observer.

"The students who got scholarships to go to Australia have already left but I am not sure about the number. There are also students who received scholarships to go to New Zealand and Fiji.”

The university identification numbers of the 50 scholarship recipients have been posted on the Board at the N.U.S. administration office. 

Attempts by the Samoa Observer to confirm their identities and get comments were unsuccessful.

Peseta said the selection process for the scholarships are done independently outside campus, with the N.U.S. administration only doing the ranking of the students based on their academic performance.

The selection process is then left to the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to make the determination and selection.

Peseta is currently the Acting Vice Chancellor of the university until newly appointed Vice Chancellor Prof. Aiono Alec Ekeroma takes up the position this year.