(CMR) The Ministry of Education (MoE) has announced major enhancements, which include increased funding, to its current scholarship program to strengthen post-secondary development pathways for Caymanian students.
Cayman Scholar Award
Chief among these improvements, scheduled to take effect at the onset of the FALL 2021/2022 academic year, is the establishment of the Cayman Scholar Award that will provide full tuition support to the most outstanding Caymanian male and female scholars as they pursue overseas undergraduate tertiary studies.
Minister for Education, Honourable Juliana O'Connor-Connolly, provides further details. She said:
“Throughout the years, we have seen several brilliant Caymanian scholars who have missed out on the opportunity to attend some of the world's most prestigious universities because of insufficient funding. Through this award, our top male and female student will each receive a scholarship of up to CI $100,000.00 per annum, allowing them to soar to the pinnacle of academic achievement without the barrier of funding, and enabling them to attend approved Ivy League or Gold Tiered Universities.”
Education Teaching Scholarship
Minister O'Connor-Connolly continued, “While we ensure that our citizens have access to quality tertiary education, we must also encourage them to pursue studies in those disciplines that are most critical to nation-building. And so, commencing in Fall 2021, students pursuing undergraduate studies in education focusing on classroom teaching will be eligible for up to CI $35,000.00 in annual tertiary funding.”
Increase to Undergraduate Overseas Funding
Also included in the enhancement measures is an increase in the standard annual funding for all overseas undergraduate studies from up to CI $20,000.00 to CI $30,000.00 per student per annum for both current and new undergraduate students.
Minister O'Connor-Connolly also explained the increase. “The cost of attending US Universities has increased significantly during the past decade. As such, the government saw the need to revise the current funding amount of CI $20,000.00 to further ease the financial burden that many of our parents face as they seek to educate their children.”
Extended Post-Secondary Scholarship Funding
Another significant enhancement to the scholarship program includes the widening of post-secondary scholarship funding to include students pursuing first-year qualifications in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma Programme, the Advanced Placement (AP) program, and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
“Previously, two-year funding was limited to students pursuing Advanced Level (A level) and Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) Level 3 extended diploma qualifications. As such, students pursuing the IB Diploma, AP, and CAPE programs only benefited from funding in their second year of study. By extending funding throughout the duration of these three programs, we can now provide greater assistance to our Caymanian students as well as provide parity across the system,” Minister O’Connor-Connolly remarked.
For more information about the Cayman Scholar and other enhanced scholarship offerings, please contact MoE’s Scholarship Secretariat Unit by email at [email protected].
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