And 113 high school students who have been doing the right thing in
their studies will also receive scholarships. The donor is Price Waterhouse
Coopers – the world’s largest accounting firm. They have 140,000
employees spread out in 150 countries and last year they made US$28.1 billion.
So their donation of $70,000 to high school students in Belize probably isn’t
a big deal to the firm. But it was the best news to the 113 first form students
who today received academic promise scholarships.
92 first form students received $500 grants and 21 students received
fellowships for $1,000. The students all graduated from the Queen’s Square,
All Saint’s, St. John’s Anglican, and Queen Street Baptist Schools
and are now enrolled in high school. It is part of a larger project with Peace
Work International which for 14 years has been working with Belizean youths
to build leadership skills.
Deputy Chief Education Officer Carol Babb has been working with Peace
Work for ten of those 14 years and she told us how the 113 scholarship recipients
were chosen.
Carol Babb, Deputy Chief Education Officer
“I’ve been working with Peace Work for over the last ten years
and Peace Work meets with organizations and universities and solicit support
for Belize. So last year they met with Price Waterhouse Coopers and asked them
to support four of our schools in transforming their resource centres and providing
a leadership workshop with students. Last year they brought 150 interns and
US$100,000 to spend at the four schools.”
Keith Swift,
“How were these students chosen?”
Carol Babb,
“The students were chosen based on need and based on ability as well.
And those students were chosen by their principals, not by us.
They want to provide our young people with skills, with life skills, they
want to support the leadership program, they want to support these students
by providing them with scholarships so that they can stay in school.”
Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“Initiatives and efforts like what Price Waterhouse Coopers and Peace
Work International is doing here compliments the Ministry’s efforts and
make sure that we get more of those students in high school and make sure that
they are successful by giving them what they need to be successful.”
And although school has already started, the students are expected
to use the scholarships towards their education. In addition to the 113 promise
scholarships – the four primary schools – namely Queen’s Square,
All Saint’s, St. John’s Anglican, and Queen Street Baptist will
share 320 carton boxes of school supplies from Price Waterhouse Coopers.
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