Digi Gives High School Scholarships to 35 Students

Today, thirty-five students received scholarships from Digicell to attend the high school of their choice. The students hail from across the country, with the majority coming from Belize City primary schools. It is a significant investment for the multitude of students who submitted applications. News Five was present for the announcement of the final selections. Marion Ali filed this report.

 

Marion Ali, Reporting

Today, thirty-five standard-six graduates were guaranteed a high school education when they formally received scholarships from BTL’s Digicell. Shahem Ifield hails from the Cayo District, where he will attend Eden Seventh Day Adventist Hogh School through his scholarship. He and his mother, Noelia Velasquez, were happy that his father’s effort paid off.

 

Shahem Ifield, Recipient, Digi Scholarship

“I mi tell them that this scholarship wa be very helpful, and it will help me further my education.”

 

Marion Ali

What field of studies do you hope to take on when you attend Eden High School?

 

Shahem Ifield

“Technology. They said they have to get a 3.0 to keep the scholarship.”

 

Noelia Velasquez, Mother of Shahem Ifield

“They mentioned that usually it’s the moms that do all the procedures, but in this way, it was the dad. So I’m happy that he did it. And he went about and applied for the application and we’re so great, grateful about it. We are so happy that my boy gets to enjoy this scholarship and it has a big impact. Great of benefits for us. So we don’t have to like struggling as much as we did with the older one.”

 

 

The company’s CEO, Ivan Tesucum explained that they succeeded in increasing the number of recipients from twenty-five by ten this year.

 

Ivan Tesucum, C.E.O., B.T.L., Digi

“We do make allocations; we do make budgets. And this year we had the opportunity to be able to even award 10 more scholarships than what we’ve done in the past. So for us, it’s just something that we’re very proud of, and something that we continue to push because education is key for us.”

 

Marion Ali

“What was the selection process like?”

 

Ivan Tesucum

“Sure. The selection process is – it has to do obviously with academic qualifications, but it also has to do with the financial needs and challenges that we meet. And so they go through a rigorous, but they do an interview with the committee and they tell their stories as to why they are deserving. And so some of those stories are very heartwarming and we see how much they want education. So for us like you correctly said, it’s a lot more than a 35. And so the committee does have a very tough task ahead of them, but they’re able to come to an agreement and we award 35.”

 

Minister of Education, Francis Fonseca says that even though the government invests upwards of three hundred million dollars each year in the budget, there is always a need for more.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“The people of this country fully understand and appreciate the importance of investing in education. And that’s why we continue to invest over three hundred million dollars every year in the annual budget. And so it’s important, even that is not enough. It’s important to have good corporate citizens like BTL doing their part. It’s very, important that we work together. All of us work together to create more opportunities for young people to get a secondary education or tertiary education.”

 

The company and the parents of the students signed an agreement committing that their children would maintain an average of three point zero in order to keep their scholarship throughout the four years. Marion Ali for News Five.