Belize Bank Provides 22 High School/Sixth Form Scholarships

Twenty-two students were today granted high school and sixth scholarships. It is the fifth year in a row, that the Belize Bank has stepped up to the plate to ensure that deserving youths get a shot at formal education to prepare them to assume different roles in their communities. The ceremony at the Radisson Fort George Hotel was also attended by past recipients of the program. News Five’s Duane Moody reports.

Duane Moody, Reporting

The Belize Bank High School Scholarship Program was established back in 2012 to celebrate the bank’s twenty-fifth anniversary in Belize. Back then, twenty-five primary school students were given full tuition grants, including school fees and books paid for their secondary education. At a scholarship award ceremony today, the Belize Bank once again granted a total of twenty-two scholarships to well-deserving students.

Lyndon Guiseppi

Lyndon Guiseppi, Chairman, Belize Bank

“We believe that education is the great equalizer; we believe that more than anything else, a good education can provide the framework and foundation for excellence whether it is in the sphere of business, the sphere of academics or in the sphere of politics. So our goal is to ensure that we make a contribution to Belize in its realm of education and to leave a legacy of educated Belizeans, people who can compete anywhere in the world.”

Of the twenty-two students, five are recipients of a two-year sixth form scholarship. They were chosen from the initial group of twenty-five students, who graduated last month with their high school diplomas and who the bank handpicked to receive an extension to their scholarships. It’s a proud moment for the bank says, Belize Bank Chairman, Lyndon Guiseppi.

Lyndon Guiseppi

“We’ve done two types of scholarships in the past; we give a high school scholarship and we give a sixth form scholarship. What is different with this year’s program, we have for the first time twenty-two of our inaugural students who have graduated—so they have completed their scholarship program—and we have identified five of the top students from that group and we have given them another scholarship to pursue their sixth form education. I mean the goal here really is to take them as far as we can and let them take it to the other level. Even more important that that is to ensure that these kids have a resource base that they can rely upon. So against that background, we have identified in each district, a manager in the branch or an officer in the branch who would be available for each one of these students in the event that they need social support, in the event that they need counseling; even in the event that they may need financial support.”

One past scholarship recipient is San Pedro resident, Angel Navidad. He is the first Belizean to have been accepted in the Ivy League Boston University, Harvard. An exemplary student through his high school and sixth form years, Navidad is a role model to his peers and other recipients.

Angel Navidad

Angel Navidad, Past Scholarship Recipient

“Don’t just be a student. Consider this…the workweek in Belize is forty-five hours; that show much time you’ll probably spend studying on average, more or less. So that’s six and half hours a day studying; say eight hours of sleep and sleep is really good guys. You should get sleep. And five hours for eating, traveling, the works. So that means you have four and half hours every day of free time, of time that you decide how you spend. That’s thirty hours a week, that’s sixteen hundred hours every year.”

Lyndon Guiseppi

“This is a young man whose family came from Guatemala and Honduras; he is a first generation Belizean and he actually scored over twenty-one hundred in the SAT; he could compete with anybody in the world…he scores thirty-three in his ACT. He is the type of exemplar I think Belize Bank would like to leave as a legacy of this program. So we hope that there will be many, many more Angels; that he will just simply be the first of many Belizeans to go to Harvard and prestigious universities around the world.”

Carol Babb

According to Doctor Carol Babb of the Ministry of Education, the scholarship is a blessing for students.

Dr. Carol Babb, Chief Education officer, Ministry of Education

“You have been blessed as there are many students who would like to further their education, but because of financial restrains cannot do so. Students please see this scholarship as a blessing and thank God and the Belize Bank for the great opportunity. With this blessing of a scholarship, you can make the choice to use this opportunity to go to school. Stay in school and work hard to get good grades.”

…and that is exactly what the recipients intend to do. Judith Parham from Trio Village and Rudy Guerrero from San Ignacio spoke of their appreciation.

Rudy Guerrero

Rudy Guerrero, 6^th Form Scholarship Recipient

“It is an honor because since I was a past recipient, it is an honor to be a recipient this year also because it has been very helpful and it helps to know that someone is supporting you to do better and achieve better.”

Judith Parham

Judith Parham, High School Scholarship Recipient

“Due to my father’s illness, it was really hard to find the money to go to high school, but now that I have received the scholarship, I have the opportunity and the chance to be a better person and further my education and serve my beautiful country, Belize.”

Duane Moody for News Five.