Sam Sharpe Tertiary Scholarship Established

A tertiary scholarship has been established in honour of National Hero, the Right Excellent Samuel Sharpe.

Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister (West), Hon. Homer Davis, made the announcement while speaking during the inaugural Sam Sharpe Lecture at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre on December 22.

Mr. Davis said the Sam Sharpe Scholarship was the latest initiative in efforts by the Flames of Freedom Organising Committee to heighten public awareness and appreciation for the National Hero’s work and worth.

The State Minister, who advised that plans are advanced for the scholarship’s official launch during Sam Sharpe Day celebrations in December 2023, said it was “aimed at engaging students from St James Southern who are matriculating to tertiary-level institutions”.

Mr. Davis also launched the Flames of Freedom Essay and Poster Competitions as part of the slate of events for Sam Sharpe Day.

He said the competitions were “additional giant steps for the parish of St. James, and Jamaica as a whole, as we seek to right the wrongs which were done to our ancestors [by the colonial establishment]”.

The Essay and Poster Competitions, for primary and secondary students and those enrolled at the Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College, he said, would allow the students “to pour their creative juices in masterpieces of literature and art depicting Sam Sharpe, the Baptist Deacon, and Sam Sharpe, the revolutionary”.

Entry forms are available at OPM (West), the St James Municipal Corporation, and the St James Southern constituency office.

The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2023, and winners will be announced on Labour Day, May 23, 2023, during the annual Tribute to Sam Sharpe event in Sam Sharpe Square, Montego Bay.

Mr. Davis also joined the stakeholders urging the Ministry of Education and Youth to reintroduce Civics in the primary and secondary-school curricula.

For her part, Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, underscored the importance of introducing the Flames of Freedom Lecture as part of the events honouring Sam Sharpe.

In her message, read by Culture Expert and Historian, Sydney Bartley, Ms. Grange emphasised the importance of knowledge in the creation of a positive and committed citizenry.

“Every effort to ensure that our people are knowledgeable in the elements of our past history and culture, must be carefully staged and strategically promoted, because out of it will come a positive and committed citizenry,” she noted.

Against this background, Ms. Grange welcomed the Sam Sharpe Day/Flames of Freedom Planning Committee’s inclusion of a Lecture as part of the programme, “so that information regarding this outstandingly significant National Hero may be disseminated among our people”.

In his remarks, Mayor of Montego Bay, Councillor Leeroy Williams, called for the process of renaming Spring Field Primary School to the Samuel Sharpe Primary School, to be expedited.

Councillor Williams said while he was pleased with Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College and Sam Sharpe Square being named in honour of the National Hero, the time was right for the primary school, which is in one of the communities where the war against slavery was waged in St. James, to bear the martyr’s name.

The Mayor also added his voice to the call for the reintroduction of Civics in the primary and secondary schools’ curricula.

This, he pointed out, would engender greater understanding of government processes and civic pride among students.