BROWN’S TOWN, St Ann — Education Minister Rev Ronald Thwaites has praised an initiative by Brown’s Town Community College to establish a work programme to assist students who are excelling academically but are experiencing difficulty paying their fees.

“The Ministry of Education commends Brown’s Town Community College for thinking innovatively, originally, and for your continuous efforts to link academic programmes to employment opportunities locally and abroad,” he stated.

“This is a path-breaking event in the history of Jamaican education,” he said.

The minister’s comments nothwithstanding, Mandeville-based Northern Caribbean University has a work/study programme that dates back to its early days as West Indies College in which students work on campus to help offset their tuition fees.

Brown’s Town’s Students Earning Opportunities Drive was launched last Tuesday, November 12, at a ceremony on the campus. Thwaites, who was guest speaker, said he hoped other institutions would soon follow the college’s example.

“I am hoping that this innovation by your college is going to be infectious and will in fact be adopted by many other tertiary institutions in Jamaica,” he stated.

He added: “This initiative being launched keeps the doors of education and employment opportunities open for hundreds of ambitious persons all through the communities that you serve.”

The minister, while encouraging students to make use of the programme, called on more private sector groups to partner with the programme.

He also encouraged the college to use students in its internal operations.

“Find opportunities for those most needy students to work in the college to do essential things so that they can in fact stay in school,” he emphasised.

Meanwhile, the education minister stressed the need for parents to start saving for their children’s tertiary education from their

early years.

At least one student who has benefited from the work programme had high praises.

Business studies student Marshena Cheddesingh, who gained part-time employment Jamaica Money Market Brokers, which has a similar initiative, said it gave her a sense of financial freedom.

“I have benefited tremendously… I am better able to afford what my course requires in terms of fees and buying text books. One of the greatest benefits that I have received is the on-the-job experience I have obtained from working at JMMB,” Cheddesingh stated.

Principal of the college James Walsh said the programme is not a charity and that students involved are doing well academically.

“We are not just looking to give them a job, but to expose their potential,” Walsh stated.

He explained that the programme will be in full operation in a few weeks in partnership with the business community in St Ann, Trelawny and St Mary.

The Earning Opportunities Drive forms part of a two-part strategy to assist students in funding their education. The first component involves informing them of and exposing them to sources of loans, scholarships, bursaries, grants, and earned tuition assistance. The second is the Earning Opportunities Drive, which allows students to gain part-time employment while pursuing their studies.