University establishes scholarship in honour of education minister
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The BAU International University in Washington DC has established a scholarship in honour of Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator Ruel Reid.
The decision to set up the ‘Ruel Reid Transformational Leadership Scholarship’ was taken by the university to recognise Senator Reid’s lead role in arriving at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the ministry and the university for the provision of 107 scholarships, over three years, worth $378.2 million (US$3 million).
These scholarships are available to student teachers to pursue undergraduate and graduate programmes at any of the tertiary institution’s campuses globally.
BAU University Board member, Paul Brunson, said the Ruel Reid Scholarship is to “pay homage and respect to Senator Reid for leading the process”.
The surprise announcement, which was made during the MoU’s recent signing at the Mico University College in Kingston, left Reid at a loss for words and saw him welcoming the gesture with an elated “I’m speechless!”.
Brunson said the scholarship is open to any Jamaican student desirous of pursuing undergraduate and postgraduate studies, either in the United States or any of BAU Global Network’s campuses in Germany, Italy and Turkey, among other locations.
The MoU, resulting from the discussions between Senator Reid and Brunson, whose grandfather was Jamaican, between 2016 and earlier this year, will additionally see the university hiring 200 English language teachers for its global network of schools for the 2018/19 academic year.
BAU International University is a private, non-profit institution that offers undergraduate and graduate programmes in economics, international affairs, entrepreneurship, global affairs, and international law and economics.
The BAU Global Network, which spans three continents, has been providing higher education for over 15 years through its campuses, which are also located in Canada and Hong Kong.
Its flagship campus is Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul, Turkey, which has eight faculties, a school of languages, and two vocational schools.
