Four children of Banks Holdings Limited Group (BHL) employees have been awarded academic scholarships each valued at BBD $1,000 through the company’s Academic Excellence Recognition Programme.
The 2021 awardees are: Zyrien Baptiste, student of The Deighton Griffith School; Adam Bartlett, student of Combermere School; Ashlee Gill, student of the Barbados Community College; and Daniel King, student of Harrison College.
The programme is a merit-based scholarship awarded to the children of permanent staff of Banks Holdings, Banks (Barbados) Breweries Limited, and The Pine Hill Dairy under three categories: excellence in the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Examinations (BSSEE), excellence in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination and excellence in Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). The programme is an expansion of the BHL Staff Scholarship programme, launched in 2007, which rewarded outstanding secondary school students.
This is the second year that the Banks Holding Group has had to re-work the program presentation due to the COVID-19 protocols and for 2021 the company had to consider the delayed receipt of the Caribbean Examination results.
As they did in 2020, the students’ certificates, cheques, and congratulatory letters were presented to their parents instead of to the students directly during a celebratory off-site function. Nonetheless, the company’s People, Legal & CA Manager, Lisa Ridley Paul, highlighted the importance of the BHL programme, which is also supported by BHL’s parent company, AB InBev, in many of its territories.
“We couldn’t arrange a special reception for the students as we would have liked, but our commitment to this program and our pride in our Academic Stars remains unwavering.
“We are exceptionally proud of Zyrien, Adam, Ashlee and Daniel who successfully passed their national examinations and in so doing demonstrated their determination and resilience in adjusting to the new learning platforms and remote interactions with their teachers and their peers,” she said.
All of the parents expressed their students’ pride in being awarded their BHL 2021 Academic Star status, and encouraged the Company to maintain the programme.
Eleven-year-old Zyrien Baptiste who joined his mother, Telesales Representative LaToya Baptiste for the brief handover ceremony, also expressed his pride and appreciation. He indicated that his prize money would be used towards the replacement of his laptop, since it no longer worked.
A maximum of fifteen scholarships can be awarded under the Academic Excellence Recognition Programme annually.
Students are encouraged to use the funds to assist in de-fraying their academic expenses, including the purchase of textbooks, educational support materials and other academic tools.
(PR)
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