High school students receive scholarships
Twenty-five students were awarded scholarships on Monday as part of the Dr Lloyd Cole Foundation’s commitment to assisting youth entering the secondary level of education.
This year’s awardees sat the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in 2017 and are past students from the Hope Valley Experimental, New Providence, August Town, Richmond Park, Mona and New Day Primary schools in Kingston and St Andrew, as well as the McIntosh Memorial Primary School in Manchester and Park Mountain Primary in St Elizabeth (where Dr Cole attended before migrating to the United Kingdom).
“The scholarship awards are intended to assist with the continuing education for the awardees, who are currently in high schools,” Cole told The STAR.
It is done partly in celebration of the medical doctor’s birthday, which is April 1. However, the ceremony was held on the roof of the Dr Lloyd Cole Medical Complex on Old Hope Road on Easter Monday.
The scholarships amounted to $330,000 with the awardees receiving between $10,000 and $15,000 each.
AMBITION
The opportunities have been made available through the generosity of Dr Cole and are accessible to students who demonstrate academic merit, participation in extra-curricular activities and ambition. He says that is the purpose of the pension he receives.
Motivational speakers included business executive Lorraine Green, Member of Parliament for the St Andrew Eastern constituency, Fayval Williams, Dr Glenda Simms, human rights activist, Senior Superintendent of Police Jacqueline Green, and Captain Kasan Troupe.
Green said: “He who opens a school door closes a prison”, a quote by French poet Victor Hugo as she praised Dr Cole for his dedication to the scholarships for over 20 years.
In her speech, she urged parents to continue shaping their children to be good citizens and the students to think about the society as part of their educational journey.
Captain Troupe, who currently serves as the regional education director in the Education Ministry, shared her personal experiences growing up as a disadvantaged youth.
All speeches were well-received and the MC, Dorothy Lowe, an educator for 24 years, quizzed the students after each guest speaker.