Rivers: Scholarships important to community
Tara Rivers. Minister of Education, Employment & Gender Affairs
(CNS): The education minister has opened this year’s local scholarship application programme, which provides financial assistance for tuition and books to pursue post-secondary and tertiary studies at institutions within the Cayman Islands. “It is important that we continue to provide local scholarships so that Caymanians can pursue their education at our local institutions and obtain professional development required for career advancement and to better serve our community,” said Education Minister Tara Rivers.
To qualify, Caymanians must meet and maintain specific academic criteria, which can be found on the education ministry website. Local scholarships are administered by the Scholarship Secretariat unit of the National Workforce Development Agency (NWDA).
“The Secretariat has been instrumental in developing a new online programme which accommodated the most recent overseas scholarship applications and will be used now for the local scholarship applications,” officials said. “This new online programme was developed to better capture all relevant applicant information, support the upload of documentation and reduce foot traffic from persons physically handing in applications to the Government Administration Building.”
Category: Education, Local News
10.36 asks what is being done to improve the quality of education. Best person to ask is the non elected failed ofsted inspector currently in the driving seat. The Minister does her bidding which means that she will be personally responsible for absolutely no improvements. Improvements will occur despite her and the side kick.
Okay… that’s great and all but what about all the problems which have yet to be addressed? I’m glad that scholarships are being offered, hey, I was a recipient of one but this is something that has been in place for years. What I want to know is what is being done to improve the quality of education? This should be at the forefront of Tara’s agenda. We need to improve the public high schools. What about all of the negative associations out there with students who have attended the public high schools because of the poor quality of academia compared with global standards. Aghhhhh! The politics on this island will make you want to pull your hair out!
University of Tampa has some excellent programmes, and some not so excellent programmes….as many schools do. Their psychology department is very good, teaching not so….
US News rankings rank the 214 universities for psychology. Guess which “school” did not make that list? The University of South Florida was 78th.
Where does that leave the teaching department?
I believe it is a wonderful opportunity ,for students who work hard and want to bring their newly acquired skills back home to enhance and improve our country, to be able to apply for and possibly earn a government scholarship.( regardless of parental income) I think that the scholarship department must ensure that the students truly meet the requirements. The local high schools have the responsibility to ensure that students earn their grades , and those who are college bound sit appropriately challenging courses which can enhance college success.
What about the failed elementary and high schools who do such a poor job with students in their early formative years of education that Cayman needs a university college to correct all the students bad behavior so students can finally go to a university abroad with scholarship and wont look or sound like a backwaters 3rd world country bumpkin.
If government could correct that problem, maybe the university college itself could develop a reputable intelligent reputation of research and community enrichment instead of a dumping ground to baby sit last-chance students. Maybe then we would not need to send students abroad because we would have a true college experience here already.
I agree with all comments posted so far. Why should not parents/guardians or whoever undergo a means test for the child to be eligible for a government scholarship? Funnelling our children into american colleges where you get a certificate merely for showing up and paying the fees accomplishes nothing.
An american nobel-prize winner who used to have a house here was happy to tell whoever would listen that only at the PhD level can american qualifications be regarded as of the same quality as those from Commonwealth countries or Europe; in his mind an American bachelors degree is equivalent to an english A-level.
What a bunch of mean-spirited commentators you all are. Those children work very hard for their grades and scholarships. smh.
But if they want public money a) they should need it and b) it should be well spent. Funding a rich kid to go to some backwaters institution in central Florida ranked 500th in the US is typical and fails to meet either criterion.
All over the world, scholarships are given to children who score high in school. As for the schools, my son looked for schools that had high rankings so I can’t speak for anyone else. However, it’s not like that $10,000 can pay for much these days. Most parents have to take out loans, in addition to the scholarship.
$10,000 get you a year’s tuition at Cambridge, Oxford, UCL, the LSE, Imperial etc etc.
All scholarships should have a test of financial ability of parents to pay and not penalize ambitious students who are trying to do what their parents, teachers and society expected but don’t have the finances for further education. I had the grades, ambition and was well respected by my peers and teachers but my single mother could not find a surety or able to qualify on her own to assist me. She was able to get a loan on our house for me to start but no one looks at people in my situation and use their discretion.
Or, differentiating between crappy colleges where kids easily get the 3.0 necessary to maintain a scholarship and first rate universities where kids are taking difficult courses and getting 2.9’s. Stupid. How many more 3rd rate teachers do we need graduating from bogus schools on governments dime?
This Minister has no faith in her own employees at the Ministry and therefore needs to consult with someone, even those failed ex employees because they are telling her what she wants to hear. Sad, sad, sad.
Why are those perfectly capable of paying for their child through third level education being given scholarships anyway?
Scholarships for the elite will not cut it Minister. Why not try something novel like making our public school education world class so that we are not extracting the brightest into private schools? Also try using the experts on island as a sounding board and not failed OfSTED inspectors.
How about requiring students to obtain subsidised UK tertiary education where possible as a condition of funding rather than wasting a fortune on third rate US institutions? English degree courses are a year shorter than US courses.
Because of the subtle discrimination of low expectations.
And cheaper!
I was interviewing someone who kept referring of “UofT”. After a while I asked what the candidate’s experience was of living in Toronto. Then it turned out that they studied in Tampa. Quite the disappointment.
Maybe you should have asked. “T” could be a nickname for many places. U of T also refers to University of Tennessee.
Well only one university that would be a plus on a resumé.