Hinterland scholarship students laud programme
DPI, Guyana, Saturday, June 16, 2018
The 122 Hinterland Scholarship Programme (HSP) students who graduated on June 13 at the Umana Yana said the scholarship has opened new doors of opportunities for them.
Minister within in the Ministry of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, in her address to the students noted that programme “is a solid and tangible testimony of human capital development within the indigenous fraternity. This human capital is timely since our country is in a state of economic, social and political transformation.”
The students completed their education at the secondary, tertiary and technical institutions in the Administrative Regions. 91 completed the secondary level, 23 completed the technical and tertiary level while eight completed the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
Nellisa Johnson and Reseda Hack, who attended Christ Church Secondary School and Queen’s College respectively, both noted that the scholarship programme is a valuable initiative since it allows youths in the far-flung areas to receive a quality education. Johnson from Orealla, Region Six and Hack from Bartica, Region Seven both plan to attend Sixth Form before furthering their education at the University of Guyana.
Some of the other graduates intend to utilise their knowledge and skills gained to develop their communities in areas of technology and employment for the youths.
Elton Raline who attended Guyana Industrial Training Centre told DPI “we need engineers in our community, so I took this opportunity to learn mechanical engineering.” Andre Thomas from Essequibo, who completed his secondary education at Anna Regina Secondary School, plans on helping his community advance technologically.
The program recorded an improvement with 91 percent pass rate in 2017 as compared to 83.3 percent in 2016.
This year’s batch of students is the largest since its introduction in 1962.
By: Kimberley Ferreira