UWI students awarded $1,500 bursaries from Coreas Hazell Inc

Two students of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus in Kingstown, St Vincent, were this week awarded bursaries by Coreas Hazells Inc.

The students, Felix Richards and Candice Trotman-Cato were both presented with cheques valued EC$1,500 each, at a small ceremony on Tuesday at the Coreas Hazells conference room located on Lower Bay Street.{{more}} The financial assistance would be used towards offsetting some of the cost of their studies.

Richards is reading for a bachelor’s degree in accounting, while Cato is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and family studies.

During the ceremony, Deborah Dalrymple, head of the local UWI Open Campus, as she congratulated and thanked Coreas Hazells for coming on board with the venture, said that for some time, the institution has been making attempts to get corporate entities to contribute to the financial wellbeing of students.

She noted that UWI Open Campus tries its best to assist its students in any way possible.

“Over the last few years, we have been trying to get the corporate sector to recognize that part of the development of our country is for corporate sector/individuals/ government to go that extra mile so that we could develop our young people, and I really want to thank Coreas for having that vision and for seeing that what we produce at the Open Campus of UWI, will in fact impact the development of the country. You have students that have gone through the Open Campus, you are going to have a better product in your company.

“At the Open Campus, we would like to think that we are a lot more than a group of people on Murray’s Road, who take your money for your degrees. We like to think that we offer support for the students in as many ways as we can, and we thought that perhaps we can approach the corporate sector to see if whether or not they would be able to provide some bursaries,” Dalrymple said.

Dalrymple pointed out that the two initial bursaries would be offered, with a third beneficiary to be added later on.

She said that among the criteria for a student to be selected, they must already be enrolled at the campus, with the payment being offered during the second semester of each year.

The bursary is open to all Bachelor of Education and Bachelor of Science students, with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Also speaking at the ceremony was Joel Providence, Managing Director of Coreas Hazells.

“We recognize the importance of the UWI Open Campus’ programmes and its role and contribution towards social and economic development in St Vincent and the Grenadines, and as a result therefore we feel that it is important to participate.

“There is a direct link between the money spent on education on a national level, and economic growth and we believe that we will become the beneficiaries of any support that is given towards this programme, and to the work generally of the UWI Open Campus, so we believe that it is our duty to contribute.”

Providence said that his company is known for, and takes pride in its civic responsibility, and has been involved in supporting projects at an individual, national and community level.

He said that the company is proud to partner with the UWI Open Campus in its quest to develop education in St Vincent ad the Grenadines.

Speaking on behalf of the recipients, Richards thanked Coreas Hazells and the UWI Open Campus for the generous gesture, promising that he and Cato would continue to strive for excellence.