Development Bank supports CFBC Student Leadership Incentive Programme

CFBC’s President Dr Hermia Morton Anthony (left) receives Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis’ contribution to the Student Leadership Incentive Programme from Executive Assistant, Ms Daniene Brin.

Basseterre, St. Kitts (September 5, 2012) — St. Kitts and Nevis’ premier educational institution, the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) has developed a comprehensive student advisement process which would ensure that the country meets its goal of one graduate per household by 2015, and to increase to 25% the number of students age 16-24 who attend College.

CFBC President, Dr Hermia Morton Anthony has said that the new initiative, ‘Student Leadership Incentive Programme’, is designed to provide bursaries to deserving students who demonstrate leadership potential, but who appear to be at risk of dropping out.

“We have increased the fees that the students currently pay and we recognise that even at this early stage that students may need to be protected,” said Dr Anthony on Thursday August 30 after receiving a cheque of EC$3,000 from the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis, being its contribution to the programme.

The President had written the Development Bank through its Chairman, Mr Elvis Newton, and invited it to participate in the new initiative whose overall target was EC$10,000 by September 1.

Dr Anthony spoke of students especially from the rural areas who have to ensure that they have transportation monies but who sometimes run into problems, and individuals and sometimes staff would intervene on their behalf.

“I think we need to have something a little more formalised because these are adults and we need to ensure that they understand what this process is about; is to ensure that they help them to graduate,” said Dr Anthony.

“There are some persons who are from a large family; they may be the first of that family to come to college and we would not want them dropping out because some financial hardships hits the family or hits that person, and they drop out because we think there is leadership in the fact that they have been the first person out of the family to take that step.”

There is a form that the students have to complete and the questions are such that they would require them to make some declaration that would give the College the correct information on the individual student’s financial status.

She observed that the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College did not have that kind of programme earlier because the thought was that it was tuition-free and therefore most people would have been able to afford it.

The College, according to the President, is committed to facilitating accessibility of all persons wishing to earn higher education certification, and is at the same time looking at attracting more students to doing disciplines that are traditionally regarded as being hard.

“One of our areas of attracting students is in the sciences and mathematics,” said Dr Anthony. “We also want to use this fund to incentivise students to select those areas, whether it is in a straight academic programme, as in the Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) Associate Degree or it is a Teacher Education person doing science.”

According to the President, it is important for the College because those students are the persons who will be needed to go out there and help to strengthen science in the classrooms. “That also is an area of concern and as well as an area that we would want to incentivise as a leadership area,” she added.

As she received the Development Bank of St. Kitts and Nevis’ contribution to the fund from Executive Assistant, Ms Danienne Brin, Dr Anthony praised the Bank, noting that being an indigenous institution it understands the importance of access.

“That is the background to a Development Bank that there should be some equity in dispensing of the resources in a country to provide loans especially for small businesses,” said Dr Antony. “I think that the Development Bank recognises and would want to support a national programme to ensure access to students and to encourage leadership among the students of CFBC.”

While the Student Leadership Incentive Programme has been set up specifically for the students of the CFBC and not specifically citizens of St. Kitts and Nevis, the President is of the opinion that it would have the same impact.