Cross Keys High to Help Past Students

Cross Keys High School, in Manchester, has launched a crisis scholarship fund to support past students who are desirous of pursuing tertiary education.

Minister of Education, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, who delivered the keynote address at the recent launch, held at the school, noted that the vision by a high school to support its past students was novel, and the Ministry will, for this year, match the targeted sum of $300,000.

“You care for your students even after they graduate from Cross Keys, and you are offering hope to people,” the Minister told the audience.

“I have never come across this before, and it is very good. You are leading everybody else in that regard. You are launching a scholarship fund to say high school education is not where you stop,” he added.

The Minister lauded the turnaround in both academic achievement and anger management at the institution over the last two years, and emphasized that the improvement among students must continue.

Principal of the school, Mr. Ralph Nelson, told the gathering that there has been a great improvement in the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) tests, “with over forty per cent of the students getting seven to nine subjects, and ninety per cent of the results being at grades 1 and 2.

Mr. Nelson said the effort by the school is to prevent the students from sitting at home after graduation “with these good results.”

One past student will be assisted annually, until the fund passes the $1 million mark.

To be eligible for the support, the applicant must have attained at least five Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) subjects. Along with $300,000 to a qualified past student, another will be given $50,000, if  he or she  can demonstrate a crisis need.

Members of the scholarship fund will also work with the students to obtain other sources of funding to complete their education, and to find guarantors for the Students Loan Bureau for other students.