NCB Resumes Sponsorship of CXC Business Subjects

The National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation has announced that it will resume sponsorship of business subjects at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) level in 2008.
The move, which was announced by NCB Chairman Michael Lee Chin, at the bank’s Atrium offices in New Kingston on (June 27) is under phase 2 of the Jamaican Education Initiative (JEI).
Under the JEI, which was launched in 2003, the Bank committed to undertake the cost of examination fees for business subjects such as Principles of Accounts (POA) and Principles of Business (POB).
NCB spent more than $50 million under phase one of the programme, which ended in 2005, with some 42,000 students benefiting.
Since then, the NCB Foundation in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Youth has revised the guidelines for the sponsorship programme in an effort to streamline the process and ensure that Jamaican students with the most need benefited from assistance.
The NCB Chairman informed that the criteria of the revised programme dictates that “the school’s percentage of students sitting the examination for the last two years has to be over 90 per cent; the financial need of the students will be assessed based on the school’s recommendation; and thirdly, the individual performance of students should be an average of 70 per cent or higher in the respective subjects.”
Reflecting on the assistance that was given to him while attending university, Mr. Lee Chin said this was one of the motivations behind the launch of the JEI, in addition to reinforcing the bank’s commitment to building a better Jamaica by enhancing the country’s education agenda.
“The bank is also proud of its investment in the education of our youth through the JEI and remains committed in the pursuit of opportunities that will make the future of our young Jamaicans bright,” he stated.
In her remarks, Minister of Education and Youth, Maxine Henry Wilson, noted that the components of the JEI were similar and relevant to what the Ministry is trying to achieve in the area of education. She also expressed her approval of the Foundation’s decision to launch the second phase of the programme.
“I’d like to thank NCB, its chairman and the other officials for continuing to see education as the way to the future,” she said.
The island’s top POB student in 2004 and a beneficiary of the sponsorship programme, Gabrielle Broadie, also expressed her gratitude to the NCB Foundation and implored other students to take advantage of the benefits under the JEI programme. Gabrielle is now a student at the Emory University, the fourth ranked business school in the United States.