Deadline for JAMVAT Tertiary Assistance Extended

The registration deadline for persons seeking financial assistance through the Jamaica Values and Attitudes Project for Tertiary Students (JAMVAT) has been extended until the end of May.
Speaking with JIS News, JAMVAT manager, Roberta Brown-Ellis said students now have up to May 30 to register their applications. “March was the closing date, but the registration has been slow,” she noted, adding that only some 600 students have registered to date.
“But the schools have indicated that more persons have applied, so we are expecting more to come in,” she said. Students are being urged to register early to avoid undue delays.
Mrs. Brown Ellis noted that last year 2,100 students applied for assistance and 1,900 were approved. Of those placed in community service “jobs”, 1,336 did 200 hours or more.
The programme pays 30 per cent of the tuition fees of students who are unable to finance their education although they qualify for entry into tertiary institutions. Beneficiaries are expected to complete 200 hours of community service through a work-study programme which begins in the summer. Students are given up to six months to complete their community service.
The Government has committed more than $100 million to the effort. Participants are provided with a stipend of $2,500 for every 50 hours of work completed or a total of $10,000 for the entire period.
The programme targets primarily second year students, but first and final year students may also apply.According to Mrs. Brown-Ellis, this year one new school, the Caribbean Institute of Technology in Montego Bay, has been added to the list of tertiary organizations whose students qualify for the free financial assistance offered under the JAMVAT programme.
She said JAMVAT has used a variety of media in the colleges to inform students about the project. These include liaison officers, guidance counsellors, notice boards of resident halls, general assembly talks, and the Career Services departments of the universities. She informed that application forms can be found online at the National Youth Service website at www.nysjamaica.org, or at any NYS parish offices or the NYS Head Office in Kingston.
JAMVAT, which is administered by the NYS, was started by the government in 2001. To date, 5,201 students have benefited under the programme which also offers workshops that prepare students on how to carry out administrative and other relevant functions expected when they are placed in the work programme.