BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, November 12, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Earlier today (Friday, November 12), Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, visited the Edgar T. Morris Primary School where he awarded thirty-seven (37) students of that institution, as well as the Estridge Primary School with scholarships valued at EC$500.
The monetary assistance to the students was presented as part of Prime Minister Harris’ 18th Annual Help-a-Child Programme – an initiative that awards primary school children who demonstrate academic potential.
Friday’s cheque presentations followed similar donations that took place on Thursday, November 11, at the Joshua Obadiah Williams Primary School in Molineux where thirteen (13) students were awarded and at the Violet Petty Primary School in Lodge Project where scholarships were presented to another twenty-seven (27) students.
Senior Foreign Service Officer and Clerk of the National Assembly, Mrs. Sonia Boddie-Thompson was a guest speaker at Friday’s brief ceremony. Mrs. Boddie-Thompson told this year’s Help-a-Child awardees that the $500-scholarships represent more than just monetary donations.
“As you receive your scholarships today – that little cheque you are receiving, do not just look at it as paper that your parents are going to cash at the bank and you are going to spend and buy a few things. Look at it as a reminder that you have great potential. There are many people within your community and your country, including our prime minister, who believe in your potential. So as you return to your classes, continue to work hard, to remain focused, to do your homework, to have good behavior and conduct at all times. The sky’s the limit,” Mrs. Boddie-Thompson said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Harris said that after 18 years, he is pleased that his programme has been able to help so many students and their families across the length and breadth of his constituency.
He said, “If you could help a child, you will help the parents, you will help the community and you will help the country. This is what the awards ceremony introduced 18 years ago was intended to do – to identify the needy students in our schools in the constituency and at least to give them some assistance that would help their parents to provide them the kind of educational experience that would advance them and would advance their lives, and advance their ability to become adults who are well rounded, well grounded and could make something of their lives.”
The prime minister further noted that owing to the difficulties many families here in St. Kitts and Nevis and around the world are facing at this time as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic, it became even more critical for him to ensure that this programme continues.
Prime Minister Harris added, “We must never give up on our children. They are our hope, our future, they are the ones who will take leadership positions in our schools, in our police force, in our hospitals, in our tourism sector. They are the future leaders and indeed we must never give up on them.”
A total of 103 scholarship awards will be presented as part of the 18th annual Help-a-Child Programme. The remaining $500 disbursements will be made individually to those students who reside within Constituency Seven but who attend schools outside of the constituency.
