13 Vincy students off to Venezuela on scholarships

Six young Vincentian students are now in Venezuela where they will take up fully funded scholarships made possible under the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).{{more}}

The students, who will attend the I.U.T. de Maracaibo (the Instituto Universitario de Tecnológico de Maracaibo) left St. Vincent and the Grenadines on Tuesday, February 12, 2008.

Gustavo Curiel, the Chargé d` Affaires of the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and his wife hosted a farewell cocktail in honour of the students on Monday evening.

The six: Tivia Mc Kenzie, Eddison Edwards, Gabriela Williams, Lance Peters, Latoya Hutchins and Tye Findlay are the first of 13 who have received scholarships under ALBA. They will read for degrees in Geology, Civil Engineering, Business Administration and Computer Science.

During the cocktail, the Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, Ambassador Ellsworth I. A. John and the Venezuelan Chargé d’ Affaires also handed over airline tickets to the students.

The students will be joining other four Vincentian students who are already in Venezuela, completing degrees in Sports Management at the Latin American Sport University (Universidad Iberoamericana del Deporte) in San Carlos, Cojedes.

The thirteen scholarships are being granted by the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and are an integral a part of the set of activities that are being brought forward within the framework of ALBA.

In a press release, Chargé d` Affaires Curiel said that the educational empowerment of people is one of President Hugo Chávez Frías main goals. He added that to implement the consolidation of the educational system in Venezuela, the President has just announced the launching of the “Alma Mater” programme. In its focus, an additional 38 new universities will be established in Venezuela in the immediate future.

These new universities will complement the current existing 120 technical university institutes and 49 universities: 16 new polytechnic universities; 14 new technical university institutes and new 8 universities.

The release quoted President Chávez as saying that under this project “The doors of our universities will also be opened to our brothers and sisters, the boys and girls of Latin America and the Caribbean”.