Marcus Garvey Public Sector Graduate Scholarship Awards Ceremony Aug. 17

This year’s Marcus Garvey Public Sector Graduate Scholarship awards ceremony is slated for Wednesday, August 17, at King’s House.

The scholarships were established by the Government in 2020 to offer Jamaican nationals and citizens employed in the public sector, the opportunity to obtain postgraduate degrees from competitive, appropriately accredited universities in Jamaica, North America and Europe.

Director of Workforce Planning at the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service and member of the Marcus Garvey Scholarship Technical Secretariat, Donovan Leon, told JIS News that the scholarships are meant to unearth the potential within the public sector for the advancement of core deliverables against a changing global landscape.

“It’s pretty much prudent for the Government while it changes the structure with how it does business, to also create an avenue for advancing human capital development. The Marcus Garvey Scholarship is one such avenue that is intended to improve the public sector-wide talent resource pool, by providing the financial resources for high levels of education,” Mr. Leon said.

The scholarship recipients will pursue graduate studies in programmes aligned with Jamaica’s national priorities and strategic objectives.

They are bonded to the country for five years following the completion of their study.

Mr. Leon pointed out that there are eligibility criteria for persons applying for the scholarships.

“Persons must be a Jamaican national or Jamaican citizen, must be employed, whether permanently appointed, temporary or contractual for at least two years continuous service and must have a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college at a sufficiently high standard to be admitted into a participating university, and not older than 45 at the age of application,” Mr. Leon informed.

Persons can apply for scholarships within certain thematic areas of study, including public sector governance, health, education, sustainable climate change, agriculture, and information and communication (ICT).

The application period usually opens in mid-February and closes by mid-March.

This year, 13 persons will be getting full scholarships to pursue a mixture of doctoral and master’s degrees in the thematic areas, including national security studies, governance, law, and climate change.

The event is being held under the patronage of Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen.