M&M to offer more tertiary scholarships to students in need
CIVIL ENGINEERING firm M&M Jamaica Limited has boosted its outreach programme with three new tertiary scholarships for promising and deserving students, Managing Director Don Mullings said recently.
The announcement was made at a recent handover ceremony at the company’s offices in Kingston where Mullings, along with Company Director Richard Mullings and executive assistant Donnique Mullings donated more than 50 scientific calculators and geometry sets to Paula Miller, principal of Balaclava High School. The instruments are for use by students of mathematics. One of the three new scholarships will also be awarded to a Balaclava High School student to pursue mathematics at the tertiary level.
“We selected Balaclava High for the donation because the school participates in our annual mathematics competition, [and] also because we have been doing a project in the area. Wherever we work, we also like to give back and assist the community. This has heavily influenced our decision,” the managing director explained.
The remaining scholarships will be awarded to two students from inner-city communities in the Corporate Area to attend university. This brings the number of students being sponsored by the company at the tertiary level to eight, with assistance ranging from $100,000 to $300,000 annually, for the duration of the course of study, up to four years.
In accepting the donation, the Balaclava High School principal expressed gratitude on behalf of her team for the company’s support. “I thank M&M for their generosity, not only for making the awards but for the vision of the competition and for helping some of our less fortunate students to better themselves,” Miller said.
M&M’s scholarship programme is financed through the M&M Chance Fund, which was established to drive the civil engineering firm’s outreach programmes, a main arm being the annual M&M Mathematics Competition. Held in high schools across St Elizabeth, the competition aims to enhance the quality of mathematics education in the parish, while inspiring love for the subject and leading to improved performance. The company’s outreach also includes the M&M Entrepreneurs Fund, which provides collateral-free financial assistance to aid small business start-up.
While commending Balaclava High School for participating in the mathematics competition and for its steady progress made over the years, Don Mullings solicited greater support for the youth. “It’s genuinely about giving young, promising students from struggling families a chance. I invite other companies to join M&M in making it their responsibility to help in the development of Jamaica, especially its young people,” he urged.