Forty-eight students are the 2014 beneficiaries of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Teachers Co-operative Credit Union Ltd (SVGTCCU) scholarship and book voucher programme.

Twenty-seven of the students and their parents were on hand at the Frenches House conference room for a brief presentation ceremony on July 21.{{more}}

Three students: Divya Sing, Nathaniel Jordan Williams and Shomari Kwesi Glasgow were awarded scholarships of $1000 for each of the next five years of their secondary education, while 45 were awarded $100 book vouchers.

Addressing the small gathering, president of the Board of Directors, Dwight Lewis, implored the students to be leaders.

“Peer pressure is going to emerge. You are going to make new friends. You are going to be part of groups… Let me implore you to be a leader. Don’t be a follower,” Lewis advised.

Lewis advised the youngsters to be focused as they enter secondary school and adopt the right attitude that will help them to excel.

He was also of the view that students should get onboard with the changing tide in technology.

“You are entering another phase in the education process. It means time is changing. The technology is changing and you will have to keep abreast with those changes. That is significant for us as a credit union and for you…,” Lewis said.

He also commended the parents for helping their children to reach this stage.

“We can’t separate the home and the school. Both must work together for the development of the students,” Lewis said, adding that some parents would often depend solely on the school for the child’s development as it relates to education.

“Now that is a big mistake. Parents have a significant role to play in that process and I believe that the parents here today would have made that input, hence the reason why your child would have excelled this far.”

He beseeched the parents to place greater emphasis on their children’s education now that they are about to commence their secondary education. Lewis also told them not to occupy their children with academics alone, but allow them to have fun also.

“We are talking about the holistic development of the child. We don’t just only want an academic. We want a social being who can interact with persons and can socialize and that comes through play,” he said.

Meanwhile, chief executive officer Julian Jack said when they introduced the scholarships back in the 1980s, they thought it would have been a useful thing for the organisation to pilot the way forward for children.

“We recognised the importance of education in particular for our people and saw education as a way to bring us from poverty,” Jack told the small gathering.

He said, despite economic hardships, they must continue to work for the betterment of their members and their children.

Scholarship recipient, Divya Singh expressed gratitude to the credit union for recognising their hard work and for funding their education over the next five years.

On behalf of the parents, Nathaniel Williams also thanked the credit union for providing the children with scholarships and book vouchers.

Remarks also came from the 2014 valedictorian of the St Vincent Grammar School, Kerron Glasgow, who was a scholarship holder from 2009. (KW)