Bursary recipients urged to make good use of opportunities

A great burden has been lifted from the shoulders of three individuals who are pursuing Bachelors degrees at the University of the West Indies Open Campus in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Rochelle Tannis, Renson Humphrey and Loretta Hamilton are the recipients of this year’s tertiary level bursaries that are made available{{more}} by the Mustique Charitable Trust (MCT).

Through the programme, recipients benefit from having 60 per cent of their tuition paid and they also receive a laptop to aid with their studies.

In brief remarks, head of the University of the West Indies Open Campus Deborah Dalrymple described the bursaries as being “well sought after,” and extended gratitude to the MCT for providing Open Campus students with the opportunity.

“We thank you very much for the opportunity because as you would know, the Open Campus offers the opportunity for persons who perhaps under ordinary circumstances may not be able to afford tertiary education. When the Mustique Charitable Trust started this programme in 2010 with one student, and we now have 15 students going through our programmes, being funded by the Mustique Charitable Trust, we at the Open Campus are very happy,” Dalrymple said.

As she addressed the three recipients, Dalrymple encouraged them to make use of the opportunity that was given to them.

“Certainly to have 60 per cent of your tuition paid is no easy feat. To be able to get that out of your way is quite remarkable. That means then that you would have to come up with 40 per cent, which is a lot less than 100 per cent,” she said.

“I really would like to encourage the students to take advantage, of not just the fact that your fees are being paid, but take advantage of the fact that you can study at home. You have to balance your time.”

Representative of MCT Basil Charles explained that the bursaries began as a result of a monetary pledge from one person, who said that they would help persons pursuing university level education locally.

Charles also disclosed that the first recipient of the bursary graduated this year with first class honours.

“We are very happy to announce that the first student to graduate, Graham Greaves passed with first class honours [in accounting]. This is wonderful news and it’s good to know that people…make good with opportunities that they get. [I] hope you are going to really make use of these contributions,” he said.

This year, recipients will also benefit from a mentorship programme, where they will be able to chat with persons about issues that they may face in everyday life; academic or otherwise.

Tannis, who is pursuing a bachelors of Education (BEd) degree in Early Childhood Development and Family Studies, expressed gratitude to the MCT on behalf of the other recipients.

“I must say that we are very grateful as this takes a lot off of our financial commitments, so I should hope that we are now more freely able to pursue our studies and with the help of the laptops, we will be better able to do our research and do all the assignments that we have to do,” she said.

Humphrey is pursuing a BEd in Secondary Mathematics Education while Hamilton is pursuing a BEd in Secondary English/Literature Education.

“I am happy to know that my other two classmates, that they are pursuing studies in English and Math; two subjects that are very important in education and not forgetting the thrust of early education also, once we provide the foundation stages for children. With help of my other two classmates, as they progress (children), I’m sure that the children of St Vincent and the Grenadines will be well taken care of,” Tannis added.

One criterion for the bursary is that recipients must be involved in some type of community service, as this is the basis on which the MCT was founded in 2008.

Tannis, who teaches at the Bequia Anglican Early Childhood Centre, is a member of the Red Cross Society and is the current president of the National Association of Early Childhood Education.

Humphrey is a teacher at the North Union Secondary School and is the president of his church youth group at the Deliverance Baptist Church while Hamilton has taught at the Girls’ High School since 2007 and makes herself available to assist students in her community in an effort to improve literacy.(BK)