JODI-ANN Wright, 21, a first-year secondary education major at the Northern Caribbean University, on Thursday became the first tertiary-level student to be awarded a grant under the National Irrigation Commission’s scholarship awards programme.

Wright, along with four other students – all at the secondary level – were recognised at Thursday’s function for having performed well academically during the first term of the 2006/2007 school year.

The others were Jodi-Ann’s brother and first former at Central High, Luke Wright; 12-year-old Kingston College first former, Kadeem Richardson; 13-year-old St Hugh’s High student Chrissone Young; and 13-year-old Michael Thomas of Denbigh High. Young and Thomas are both second- time awardees.

Jodi-Ann said she did not initially see teaching in her future, and had wanted to be a lawyer instead. However, according to the young woman, she can make a contribution in the classroom. She hopes to effect positive change once she gets there.

The scholarships valued $60,000 for Jodi-Ann and $40,000 each for the other students.

The students, who were also praised for their extra-curricular involvement, were given 75 per cent of the value of the scholarship on Thursday with the remainder to be awarded at a later date based on their performance for the Easter term.

The programme, which is now in its ninth year, is a joint venture between the National Irrigation Commission and the trade unions by which its employees are represented.

It is funded by the Commission and is open to the children of staff members, save those at the managerial level.

Lauding the efforts of the Commission to make education accessible to its employees’ children, state minister in the Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Errol Ennis, said the transformation of the economy was dependent on similar partnerships.

“I feel strongly that this type of corporate and social partnership is what the country needs to transform the society and the economy,” he said.

“As such, I wish to publicly encourage more government and private sector companies to come together to make more opportunities available to our youth,” he added, as he delivered the main address to the students, their parents and representatives of the Commission.

Ennis also encouraged the youth to see agriculture as a career option, a business and a means of wealth creation, pointing out that in developed countries farmers are among the wealthy.

“We in the ministry want to reverse the trend of hand-to-mouth living, which is associated with farming in this country, in order to make it more appealing to young people like you,” he said.

“In order to make the sector appealing, and to show that you can make a profit from careers in agriculture, we are modernising the sector to make land access, on- farm water, training and information on market opportunities available to you,” he noted.

thompsonk@jamaicaobserver.com