NTI announces funding for students still available

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. President Aluki Kotierk, pictured here, announced a new Nov. 30 deadline for post-secondary students to apply for scholarships from the Nunavut Tunngavik Foundation. (PHOTO BY COURTNEY EDGAR)

Nunavut Inuit post-secondary students have another chance to apply for scholarships from the Nunavut Tunngavik Foundation.

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. President Aluki Kotierk announced in a news release on Wednesday, Nov. 22 that students who wish to apply for scholarships and did not have a chance to do so earlier this year, maybe having missed the first call for applications, now have until next Friday, Nov. 30 to apply.

Two types of scholarship are offered:

• $1,000 for the skills and employment advancement scholarship for students enrolled in P.A.S.S., A.B.E., G.R.E.A.T, Foundations, employment training, or trades programs lasting a minimum of four weeks.

• $2,500 for the post-secondary scholarship for students enrolled in a recognized college or university degree program that lasts two years or more, or a preparatory program that leads to a degree program.

According to information on the NTI website, scholarships can be applied towards the following expenses:

• Tuition
• Associated fees
• Books, materials and program supplies
• Travel and accommodation
• Living expenses, including rent, childcare expenses and meals
• Student debt

Following a call for applicants earlier this summer, 214 scholarships were awarded by the foundation to Inuit students enrolled under the Nunavut Agreement to support them in their studies.

According to an email from NTI to Nunatsiaq News, of those 214 applicants, 149 were awarded post-secondary scholarships for those taking university or college degrees, 47 were awarded skills and employment advancement scholarships for those enrolled in employment training or trades programs, and a further 18 students’ applications are in final review by the selection committee.

About two-thirds of the university/college scholarships are shared equally by students in the Kivalliq and Qikiqtani regions, and those regions’ students share more than two-thirds of the scholarships for those in employment training or trades programs.

A little more than 10 per cent of the university/college scholarships were awarded to students studying outside Nunavut, as were about eight per cent of scholarships for employment training or trades programs.

The funding for the scholarships is administered by the foundation, which was created by NTI to manage surplus funds from the money set aside for common experience payments from the Residential School Settlement Agreement.

“If you are a Nunavut beneficiary who is taking steps to further your education, we encourage you to take advantage of supports such as this, because when you succeed in education, we all benefit,” said Kotierk in the news release.

Application forms and program information are available online, from a community liaison officer in all Nunavut communities and at one of NTI’s offices in Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet or Cambridge Bay.

The deadline for applications is next Friday, Nov. 30, at 5 p.m. central time.