Aid for the deserving

THE Elena Cooke Education Fund provides scholarships to deserving young Malaysians to enable them to pursue tertiary education.

Students who have obtained their SPM and STPM results are invited to apply for financial assistance.

It is managed by BBGS Alumni Berhad, a company set up by former students of the Bukit Bintang Girls’ School (BBGS).

The fund continues to team up with Sunway College, Sunway University, First City University College and KDU University College to provide the scholarships. However, students who apply to other local higher education providers are also eligible to apply for scholarships, as long as they fulfil the minimum criteria, including being below 23 years of age as at Dec 31,2019 and with a household income of not more than RM60,000 per annum.

The fund, set up in memory of BBGS’s longest-serving headmistress, the late Miss Elena Maud Cooke, emphasises on giving a helping hand.

The fund recognises that for poverty-stricken students, education is a key factor that can take them out of the cycle of poverty. Hence, financial neediness is high on the list of criteria that are considered, which also includes academic performance, extra-curricular activities and character.

The fund is keen on aiding young people who are orphans or from single parent families or those who have lived in children’s homes. Three past scholarship recipients of the fund were from children’s homes.

For 2020, the fund’s applications opens tomorrow and closes on Apr 3.

The application forms can be downloaded from www.bbgs.com.my.

Donations to the Elena Cooke Education Fund are welcomed from corporate donors and individuals. They can either write a cheque or do an inter-bank transfer to the bank account of BBGS Alumni Berhad (Maybank Account No: 5141 2316 6380).

Donors should inform BBGS Alumni Berhad via [e-mail] so that receipts can be issued.