BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - Four individuals who are currently pursuing studies at various universities across the globe were on Friday (July 20) given a financial boost when the TDC Group of Companies awarded them the Michael L. King Scholarship Grant.
Representatives, on behalf of each University student (because each student is abroad), received US $5 000 which will be used to help defray costs that are usually incurred by students studying abroad.
The lucky persons are: Eloise Herbert who is pursuing studies in Communications at Cameron University in Oklahoma; Calvin Duggins who is studying Economics at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad; Icis Morton pursuing studies in Marketing at the Midwestern State University in Texas; and Shennel Arthurton studying Accounting at the Midwestern State University in Texas.
In a ceremony held at the TDC Training Room on Friday, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education Mrs. Ionie Liburd-Willett commended TDC on its vision for the Scholarship grant.
"We all recognise that these are the best of times living in this technological age, but realistically these are also financially challenging times. For an organisation like the TDC Group of Companies to grant awards of US $5 000 each to four deserving students in the Federation is indeed commendable."
She also made a call on local businesses to collaborate with the Ministry of Education and contribute in a likewise manner towards student development.
Director Earle Kelly, in addressing the representatives of the recipients, stated that it was an honour to award the students with Scholarships, noting that it is always wise to invest in youth and education.
"You may ask why TDC invests such sums of money in the education of our young people especially in these very tough economic times. To us, the answer is very simple. We believe that investing in the human resource of our country will produce more competent and qualified young people making them better equipped to continue to contribute to the growth and progress of our Federation, and we need that."
He commended the awardees on winning the Scholarship and wished them well in their studies.
"We look forward to the successful completion of their studies and their eventual return," he said.
The Guest Speaker for the ceremony was past recipient Asha De Suza who thanked the TDC Group of Companies for their tireless and profound contribution to the educational and intellectual development of young persons.
She asked the representatives of the recipients to encourage the students to be financially prudent as it is very important that they budget properly.
She advised them to use her "little trick" where every time she reached for her purse she said to herself "I am a student living on a budget", among other things.
She said that adopting those little things could help them to survive the college years especially in these tough economic times.
Dr. Clive Ottley, Chairperson of the Selection Committee for the MLK Scholarship Grant, described Michael King, under whose name the scholarships are awarded, as a person who recognised the great value of education and encouraged all around him to improve their skills and their knowledge.
"Mr. King had been the Chairman and CEO of the Company for several years before his retirement and during that time he always placed great emphasis on the value of education and he always encouraged all who were around him to pursue knowledge and increase their skills and one of his sayings was 'you need to work smarter, not harder'."
He said that a total of US $100 000 in grants have been distributed so far over the past five years and "we at TDC are proud that we can make this contribution; we continue to honour our commitment to this programme and to the other education programmes that we have despite the challenges which we face at this time".
The Scholarship is in its fifth year and is intended to assist students who are desirous of pursuing University studies at Undergraduate level and post Graduate level in areas such as Business Management, Economics, Information Technology, Accounting and any other business related subjects.
The award is open to citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis who reside in the Federation and intend to return after completion of their course of study.
