7 News Belize

Cops Finding Special Cases For Scholarships
posted (August 10, 2018)
And while BTL is funding 25 kids in its own annual scholarship program, the company is also teaming up with the police department, the Ministry of Education, Price Waterhouse Coopers the Belize Bank to provide scholarships to 7 more needy students.

Now, you may have noticed that it is very unusual for the police department to be getting involved in a scholarship program, but Deputy Police Commission Chester Williams and his team saw it fit to provide an opportunity for these at-risk children from Belize City who all show scholastic potential.

Here's what he and the representatives of the partnering organizations had to say to the kids who have been selected for this new scholarship program:

Chester Williams - Deputy Police Commissioner, Operations
"We know that it is not often that we see the police department venturing into things like this. But, I saw the need to be able to do something like this because while we have a number of organizations out there that do give scholarships for children to go to school, sometimes the criteria that they set for the scholarship is difficult to be met by those children who really and truly go to school every day without only a bag on their backs, with no books, and these sort of things. They cannot compete with the child who goes to school well equipped. So, we tried to do something where w can lower the threshold. Instead of looking at a PSE mark of 80 and above, we look at 60 and above. So, we moved it from 80 to 60, and that way, we'll be able to capture those children who could not have made an 80 on the PSE. And instead of maintaining a GPA of 3.0 whilst going to school, we lowered the threshold again to 2.5. So, again, we believe that it is quite reasonable, and any student who is going to school and really and truly want to do well, should be able to maintain a 2.5 GPA. And the parents who are here with these kids today, I want to let you understand that the duty is not only on the child, but also on you as well."

Dr. Carol Babb - Chief Education Officer
"We are very pleased to be given the opportunity to help out students who would normally not be given a scholarship. I particularly like the criteria, Deputy Commissioner, because as you rightly said, some of these students would not have qualified in other scholarship programs. But, I believe that every child deserves a right to an education. And so, when you reach out to these students, that is rightly what we should be doing, ensuring that every child, not only these 7, but every single child in our society gets an opportunity to get a good, quality education."

Rondall Hewitt - Chief Sales Officer, BTL
"Deputy Commissioner Williams says that he's looking to do this for the long term. BTL is here in the long term alongside the police department. Like the Ministry of Education, we do not have a money tree, but we can find money for interesting stuff that is of vital importance to the country."

Anastasia Ferguson - Scholarship Recipient
"First of all, I just want to give God thanks. Thanks for the Belize Police Department for giving me this opportunity. It will take me a long way through school, and help me to reach my goals, and fulfill my dreams."

So, the breakdown is that Price Waterhouse Coopers is funding 2 of these kids in this scholarship program. BTL is also funding 2, and so is the Ministry of Education, but 1 student is actually getting a scholarship to go on to tertiary level education. Belize Bank is funding the final student out of the 7 selected.

Home | Archives | Downloads/Podcasts | Advertise | Contact Us

7 News Belize