JN Foundation Awards 35 PEP Scholarships

Jeffrey Campbell, better known as Agent Sasco, engages scholarship recipients in a motivational talk at the JN Foundation Scholarship Reception held last September.

Thirty-five students were awarded five-year scholarships by the JN Foundation, in recognition of their outstanding performance in this year’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP). The cohort consists of one recipient from each parish and county, while 18 are children of employees of The Jamaica National Group.

Concurrently, more than 100 other students, who are at various stages in their five-year scholarship award, will have their scholarship renewed for the new school year.

Onyka Barrett Scott, general manager at the JN Foundation, pointed out that hundreds of students at the secondary level have been benefitting from the scholarship programme since its inception in 1983.

“Despite the various challenges that we are all experiencing right now, the JN Foundation is pleased to continue support for the education of our future generation and to celebrate their excellence,” said Barrett Scott.

“This year’s cohort is one of a kind, as they are facing a scenario for which none of us could have prepared them. The COVID-19 pandemic has created some amount of anxiety for the new school year; and this will certainly call for a lot focus on the part of our scholarship recipients,” she related.

Marshalee Powell, a single parent of Barbary Hall in St. Elizabeth, and mother of 11-year-old Arriana Hewitt, who emerged the JN Foundation scholar for St. Elizabeth, welcomed the scholarship award.  A worker in the tourism industry, Powell was laid off in March due to slow business as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Getting this scholarship is a big deal. I’m overjoyed,” she said, adding that she was optimistic that her daughter would have been awarded the scholarship due to her consistent high academic performance.

Arriana, a former student of Black River Primary and Infant School, achieved a placement score of 345 to earn a place at Hampton High School.  She is equally overjoyed about the scholarship award and vowed to continue her high academic performance at her new school.

Barrett Scott disclosed that more than 100 persons had applied for the scholarships via the JN Foundation website.  However, as part of the eligibility for the scholarship, the child or parent was required to be a member, customer, or client of the Jamaica National Group for at least a year.

In addition to the PEP scholarship awards this year, 16 students at the tertiary level, attending The University of the West Indies, the University of Technology, Jamaica, the Northern Caribbean University, and the University College of the Commonwealth, will receive financial assistance to pursue their studies.

With the exemption of the scholarship award to the University College of the Commonwealth (UCC), which is reserved for a JN employee, The JN Foundation’s one-year tertiary scholarship can be accessed through the scholarship office at the respective universities mentioned.