High school students receive EC $50k from Taiwan
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Minister with responsibility for Education, Hon. Sam Condor
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts-ONE hundred and twenty-five first-form students each received a donation of EC $400 from the Republic of China (Taiwan) at a June 26th ceremony held at the Basseterre High School. The money was given to honor their scholastic achievements so far and to encourage their continued dedication to academics.
The ceremony marked the tenth year of cooperation between the government of Taiwan and the Ministry of Education in providing assistance to students who are in need of financial aid and who excel academically.
“The ministry is very pleased to see that the assistance goes to those students who have worked extremely hard and have shown potential for continued success,” said Patrick Welcome, Chief Education Officer for St. Kitts & Nevis.
Welcome went on to thank the teachers and parents of the students for working hard to meet their needs and encouraged the children to recognize the generous donation of the Taiwanese as a sign that they are “a friend who has an interest in your future.”
The Minister with responsibility for Education, Hon. Sam Condor said at the ceremony that the students deserved to be revered, but must continue to “present themselves as role models” since they are the future of development in the twin-island Federation.
“Our country is completely lacking in natural resources, save for human capital,” said the minister, “and human capital is a resource that must be developed strategically, constantly, effectively and deliberately if St. Kitts & Nevis is to [compete] in this fiercely competitive global village.”
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(From left to right) Patrick Welcome, Chief Education Officer, H.E. Rong-Chuan Wu, Taiwanese Ambassador for the Federation, and Hon. Sam Condor, Minister with responsibility for Education, pose with the first form recipients of the scholarship
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The Taiwanese ambassador, His Excellency Rong-Chuan Wu made similar remarks, emphasizing to the students that education did not only mean becoming doctors, lawyers and engineers.
“I want to encourage you to continue contributing to this beautiful land. Food security is a major concern, not only for this country but for the rest of the world… [therefore] this Embassy plans to divert more and more resources to encourage students going into vocational programs.
“It is right to come back to your land, to love your land,” said the ambassador before he informed students that taxi drivers and farmers make contributions to the Federation that are just as important as any business professional.
In closing, Wu said it was his honor to present “this humble contribution to education in the Federation” and that his Embassy would be with working the Taiwanese Technical Mission in the coming months to have more high school students visit their development farm and agro-processing plant.
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