COST/VALUE OF SCHOLARSHIP
The scholarship award will cover the full cost of boarding and tuition fees. This will be a one-year renewable award conditional upon above-average overall student performance from the second through the final year of study. There will, therefore, be one beneficiary on the inception of the scheme, two in the second year and three in the third and subsequent years.

While the initial cost of the award is to be borne by direct funding by BLEOO 74, the long-term goal is to convert to an endowment. All BLEOO alumni (whether or not they were taught by Ms O’Grady) will be invited to contribute towards the investment capital, the returns from which the boarding and tuition fees of award recipients will be covered in perpetuity.

Table 1 shows the current fees for a day and boarding student. It should be noted that the fees for 2nd-4th years are projections based on current fees for the 2007/2008 academic year shown in bold for the 1st year. A 10% increment is assumed for the subsequent years.

Table 1 - SCHOOL FEES AT ACCRA ACADEMY

		FEES CHARGED, Gh¢	FEES CHARGED, Gh¢
PC	YEAR OF STUDY	DAY STUDENT	BOARDING STUDENT
1	1ST YEAR	214.00	504.00
2	2ND YEAR	235.40	554.40
3	3RD YEAR	258.94	609.84
4	FINAL YEAR	284.83	670.82
5	TOTAL	993.17	2,339.06

Table 2 shows the amount needed to cover tuition and boarding fees of award recipients in the first 5 years. The scholarship scheme is due to be instituted and announced at the 2008 Speech and Prize-Giving ceremony.

Table 2

YEAR OF	NO. OF	ESTIMATED	FEES CHARGED, Gh¢
SCHEME/ACADEMIC	BENEFICIARIES	COST PER	NEEDED
		BENEFICIARY, Gh¢	FOR FEES, Gh¢
1ST YEAR, (2008/09)	1	554.40	554.40
2ND YEAR, (2009/10)	2	609.84	1,219.68
3RD YEAR, (2010/11)	3	670.82	2,012.47
4TH YEAR, (2011/12)	3	737.91	2,213.72
5TH YEAR, (2012/13)	3	811.70	2,435.09

As indicated in Table 2, the goal is to raise Gh¢555.00 by July 2008 to enable implementation of the scheme in the 2008/2009 academic year. By the same date, an aggressive fundraising campaign will aim at raising extra capital towards investments that will yield the Gh¢1220.00 required for the 2009/2010 academic year. The yield from investments in the subsequent years should amount to Gh 2100.00 by 2010/2011 academic year, Gh¢2250.00 by 2011/2012 and Gh¢2450.00 by 2012/2013.
A Finance Committee will be constituted from the BLEOO 74 group with the mandate to solicit advice from financial experts regarding the type and diversity of investments, least vulnerable to market volatility and most likely to yield solid returns in the long-term. Modest estimates of yield per annum on investments fall within 12-18% range based on current trends in the Ghanaian market. The Finance Committee will determine, based on the advice it receives, the best investment strategy needed to fully create a self-perpetuating endowment by the year 2012.
To ensure optimal participation by BLEOO alumni, the details of this scholarship scheme will be posted on the BLEOO website. A high level of advertising expertise will be employed to induce BLEOO alumni of all year groups to support the scheme.

SELECTION PROCESS

A 7-member Adjudicating Panel will be constituted consisting of:

•   3 members of BLEOO 74, one of whom will be the Chair
•   2 representatives of the school administration
  o   Assistant Headmaster
  o   Bursar
•   1 representative of the Students’ School Council
•   1 science teacher who does not teach the first year class (e.g. Head of Science Department)

Candidates who meet the eligibility criteria will be invited to submit an application including a 500-word essay.
The scholarship award will be inaugurated by an announcement at the 2008 Speech and Prize-Giving Ceremony. Following that, applications will be invited leading to an award at the beginning of the 2008/2009 academic year in September 2008.
Ms. Alice O’Grady has accepted the invitation and will be in attendance to present the inaugural award.