Holness Says More Space Needed At Tertiary Level

KINGSTON — Minister of Education, Hon. Andrew Holness, has commended Carreras Limited for its commitment to education by providing tertiary scholarships to students for the past 49 years.

Speaking at Carreras’ 2011/12 scholarship awards function at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, Wednesday, October 5, Mr. Holness noted that the company’s “flagship programme” represented part of its commitment to Jamaica, particularly to tertiary education.

He noted that, over the past three years, the number of students attaining four or more subjects in the Caribbean Examination Certificate/Caribbean Schools Examination Certificate (CSEC), including Mathematics and/or English, who are capable of matriculating to tertiary institutions, has consistently increased, moving from 14,000 to 17,000 over the period.

While noting that this trend is set to continue, he also pointed to the attendant challenges associated with the provision of adequate sixth form spaces to accommodate students.

“We have students who are doing well, and we can’t say to them ‘don’t do well’, we want them to do well. But then, we don’t have the places for them at sixth form, and we certainly don’t have the places, or the finances, for them at the tertiary level. So there is a serious problem in the tertiary sector,” Mr. Holness admitted.

“I have expressed before, at this platform, at this event, certain policy directions which could alleviate the problem. Education is very close to my heart and it will remain close to my heart,” he added.

Over 45 scholarships and bursaries, valued at over $2 million, were presented to students attending the universities, teacher training colleges and community colleges islandwide by Carreras.

By Douglas Mcintosh, JIS Reporter