Government to explore more national scholarship options in 2014

Students from the Division of Technical and Vocational Education, Division of Nursing Education and the Division of Teacher Education will soon have the opportunity to earn national scholarships.{{more}}

While speaking at a ceremony on Tuesday at the Villa campus of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said that as of 2014, the Government will be looking into providing national scholarships for persons outside of the Division of Arts, Sciences and General Studies.

“From next year, we have to find a way to factor in, not only for the students who are doing CAPE and A levels for the national scholarships, but we have to factor in for the associate degree students. We have to factor in also for those students, not only at this campus, at this division, but also for those in teaching…and the technical division and also the nursing division,” Gonsalves said.

He also urged students to strive to do better in their external exams, so that they can lay claim to a national scholarship.

“We are doing pretty well in the Education Revolution, but we can do better. We gave this year…seven national scholarships and we have some exhibitions to announce, but I say this to you, force my hand. Make me give 15, 20 national scholarships. Force my hand.

“But you know how you can force my hand; improving the grades. If 20 of you for instance, get straight As or ones, I assure you that I will find the money to give 20 of you national scholarships,” the Prime Minister said.

Gonsalves stressed that obtaining university education is an investment that should not be taken lightly.

“You’re at a stage where you will be interested in your careers and some other time I will come and talk to you frankly about how you should go about identifying the proper career path and what you should be studying here and what you should be studying at university.

“I know you have people who advise you in the college, but they often advise you on the educational side alone, but I want to advise you too on the financial side because the university education is an investment and you have to have the returns on your investment,” he said.

“But don’t come to me with three Cs and expect to get a national scholarship with three Cs. If you don’t reach a certain minimum standard, you can get an exhibition, but the five year national scholarships are reserved really for very good to excellent performances”.

The Prime Minister expressed his love for the students and said that he is committed to ensuring that they receive the best opportunities and quality education.

This year, seven students were awarded five-year national scholarships for outstanding performances in the May/June 2013 CAPE and GCE Advanced Level examinations. The seven were: Kayrel Edwards, River Providence, Raheem Hall, Shontel Murphy, Stephanie Providence, Taj Lee and Allana Cumberbatch.(BK)