Overwhelmingly thankful – this was the reaction of three students of UTech, Jamaica’s Caribbean School of Nursing (CSON) who on Thursday, February 8 became the first UTech, Ja recipients of fully funded scholarships from UTech, Jamaica’s Chancellor Lloyd Carney through his Carney Global Ventures Foundation.
The students who are all enrolled in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing course of study at the Papine Campus were presented with their awards by Carney during a brief hand-over ceremony inside the President’s Conference Room. The recipients are: first year students, Sudeek Sloley and Cameal Walker, along with the third-year student Katanya Allen. While the collective value of the scholarships was not disclosed, Chancellor Lloyd Carney indicated that the awards will “take care of everything … food, books, tuitions, uniforms” for the three students.“I want this to be a holistic scholarship,” he said.
Carney shared that while his foundation has been providing scholarships for “over 30 years” to other institutions locally, somehow, “there is hardship that is still not resolved”. He noted that in some instances some students, even after receiving scholarships, “can’t find uniforms, they can’t find money for housing, they can’t find money for food”. He said the provision to cover everything was a deliberate move to eliminate such challenges for these first-time recipients of the Carney Global Ventures Foundation Scholarship.“I don’t want these young people to have to worry. I want them to focus on school … studying … getting their work done,” he insisted. The four-year-long BSc in Nursing at UTech, Jamaica currently amounts to $588,590 while accommodation fees stand roughly at $220,000 per annum.
The awardees who have demonstrated excellent academic achievements are required to maintain at least a B average to keep the scholarship for the duration of their degree programme. While another condition of the scholarship requires that the students remain on island for at least two years after they have completed their studies, Carney noted that flexibility and due considerations will be exercised so as not to deprive the students of meaningful opportunities.