NEGRIL, Westmoreland — Over 50 tertiary students from the tough inner-city communities of Glendevon, Norwood, Flanker and Canterbury in the constituency of North West St James, are to benefit from grants totaling $2.5M from the allotment of MP Dr Horace Chang’s Constituency Development Fund.

” This year we will be spending $2.5 million on a total of 56 students. We are trying to give university students a grant of $50,000 and some community college students a little less. In some cases we pay the whole tuition fee because of the particular circumstances,” Chang noted last week. ” We have some very bright kids coming out of the inner-city areas of Flanker, Norwood, Glendevon and Canterbury from very, very humble families. The thrust of my education fund is to help to rescue some of these kids from inner city communities who get to this stage. The truth is if they don’t get to go through they will fall back in the same circumstances and that can be very difficult,” he said.

Dr Chang, who is also the Minister of Water and Housing, noted that in former years he used the money to upgrade computer laboratories, secure musical equipment and finance supplementary feeding programmes in basic, primary, all age and junior high schools, but has swayed the focus this year.

” I am actually focusing my attention at students attending tertiary institutions because it is much more challenging for tertiary students who don’t have money. When they leave home and go to a campus it is a major embarrassment if the cannot find that lunch money or have that extra pair of shoes or adequate basic things to put in their apartment,” said the MP. ” I don’t think poverty should be an embarrassment to a bright child… We are focusing on helping the kids who even when they borrow student loan have a rough time”.

The Water and Housing Minister explained that he is also opposed to publicising the students who will be assisted as some will feel embarrassed. He says he will pay the grants directly to the institutions.

” It is a personal feeling I don’t think we should put their picture in the press,” he said.

The MP noted that 21 students attending UWI accounted for the majority of the grants. Other institutions include NCU, ICC UTech and a university in Cuba.

Noting that the equipping of the school “has become a lesser priority”, he explained that he has not abandoned his assistance to the school feeding programmes and other urgent needs.