NCB Foundation Provides Grant for Student to Pursue His Passion

When 21-year-old Dave Flowers learnt that his examination fees for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Information Technology (IT) were being subsidised, his reaction was: “one less struggle for my mother”.

Mr. Flowers, a past student of Denbigh High School in Clarendon, was among the thousands of beneficiaries of the NCB Foundation’s CSEC/Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) National Bursary Programme.

He received the benefit up to sixth form, where he pursued CAPE Computer Studies.

Mr. Flowers tells JIS News that he learnt he was a beneficiary of the grant when he received a paper of all the subjects he would be sitting for CSEC in 2022.

“I think it was the day when I found out the subjects that I would be doing in CXC. At Denbigh they would normally give out this form with all the subjects that you would be doing and the subjects that you get a subsidy for,” he recalls.

He says this was good news for him and his family, as his mother, Elisa Taylor, the sole bread winner, got some relief as she did not have to bear the brunt of paying for all his subjects.

“I was elated. I mean [it was] one less struggle for my mother to worry about. So, I was glad that I qualified for it,” Mr. Flowers says.

“My mother was just as glad as I was. It felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders, because it wasn’t easy knowing that she had to pay so much for all those subjects. So, when she found out that there was an easier way out, with less stress on her, she was glad for the opportunity,” he adds.

Mr. Flowers sat eight subjects in CSEC, passing five, including IT with a grade three.

He also passed all his CAPE subjects consisting of Sociology, Physical Education, Computer Science, Caribbean Studies, and Communication Studies.

This was achieved while being a part of his high school’s volleyball team, where he was vice-captain in grade 11 and then captain in lower six.

Now, Mr. Flowers is pursuing a degree in Computing at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech) in Kingston, an interest he developed in his younger years.

“[Computing is] something that I liked from when I was younger. Something that I just had a natural passion for, so that’s why I chose to pursue it,” he shares.

He further explains that his interest grew from pulling apart a cellular phone and successfully putting it back together.

“I wouldn’t say it started off with computers, it started off with phones. I remember having a phone in grade eighty, and… I was messing around with it once, and I ended up dismantling the whole entire thing and putting stuff together. It worked. And then it kind of just went on from there,” Mr. Flowers tells JIS News.

The youngest of four children, Mr. Flowers is the first of his family to go to college.

He shares that he has received a host of support from his mother and siblings as he goes through the four-year programme.

Now that he has completed his first year of university, Mr. Flowers is exploring his career options.

“I would like to go into multimedia. I remember this time – I think I was in grade nine or grade 10 – I went to Kingston at SportsMax. And I was looking around the place and I felt like this is where I wanted to work. This is something I probably would like to do for work. So, I guess it stems from that as well,” he tells JIS News.

He explains that while he understands computing does not directly relate with multimedia, he plans to supplement his degree with other courses in the field.

Annually, the NCB Foundation, in partnership with the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, and the Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC) covers the examination fees for select students in private and public schools across the island who are pursuing IT and Computer Science at the CSEC and CAPE levels.

During a ceremony on Wednesday (March 19) at Immaculate Conception High School in St. Andrew, the Foundation handed over $7.8 million to subsidise the fees of 1,310 students.