129 hinterland youths benefitted from Govt scholarships in 2017

DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, February 7, 2018

In 2017, a total of 129 hinterland students were granted scholarships to pursue secondary and tertiary level education on the coast. Seventy-six of these scholarships were granted to secondary aged students, while 53 was granted to individuals desirous of pursuing tertiary education.

According to Minister within the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Valerie Garrido-Lowe, the secondary students are housed at the Hinterland Student Dormitory at Liliendaal. There are also students attending secondary schools in their respective communities and those attending the residential President’s College on the East Coast Demerara (ECD) who are boarding there.

Tertiary students under age seventeen (17) are also housed at the dormitory, while those from 17 years and over reside with a guardian or at the Indigenous Residence in Georgetown.  These students are pursuing their studies at institutions such as the Government Technical Institute (GTI), the Carnegie School of Home Economics, Burrowes School of Art, the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA), Guyana Industrial Training Center (GITC) and the University of Guyana (UG).

The government is in the process of constructing a new $183M dormitory. Once completed, the facility will include sixteen (16) apartments, each housing six students. The apartments will contain a kitchenette, toilet and bath area and also a study area, while the dormitory itself will also have a cooking area, a library, and a playroom. It will house 120 students in total.

Minister Garrido-Low noted that the hinterland residents are enthusiastic about the new dorm which will also be located at Liliendaal. “The parents are happy to know that they can send their children to a safe and comfortable environment,” she said.

Secondary aged students are granted scholarships through the government’s Hinterland Scholarship Programme (HSP). To qualify for a regional scholarship, students are required to obtain 470 marks at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA); while at the national level they must obtain more than 480 marks, to be awarded schools in Georgetown and its environs. Scholarships for the tertiary students are obtained through the Public Service Ministry.

In recent years, an estimated 600 hinterland students have benefited from scholarships to attend tertiary institutions on the coast, while under HSP over 2,000 students have benefitted.

 

By: Synieka Thorne

 

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