NAIN, St Elizabeth — Sujae Boswell and Sacavia Henry have a fair deal in common.

Both sprung from poor homes with mothers working their fingers to the bone to support their children.

Both were high academic achievers as children. Boswell from Norwood in St James attended the all-boys high school, Munro College in Potsdam, Malvern, St Elizabeth, while Henry from Lititz, St Elizabeth, went to the all-girls Hampton School, down the road from Munro.

At a back-to-school awards function hosted by bauxite/alumina producers Jiquan iron and Steel (JISCO) Alpart, the Alpart Community Council and its business arm, the Essex Valley Community and Associates (EVC), Boswell and Henry had stirring messages for students.

Regardless of their circumstances or difficulties, they should never give up, students were told. No matter what, they should stay focused on fulfilling their ambitions.

Boswell, a 24-year-old youth development consultant and Governor General awardee told stories of extreme hardship and sacrifice as he advanced to leadership positions while at high school and later at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

He always aimed high, he told his audience comprising top student awardees, parents, teachers, and community representatives.

Crucially, he said, students should be prepared to “give back” and “build up” their communities. They should read widely, “challenge the process” and should not be “afraid” of politics.

“Don’t be one of those people who say they don’t business,” said Boswell.

Henry, now a medical student at the University of the West Indies and an award winner at the back-to -school function told of her burning ambition to become a doctor and of the sacrifices her mother had made, and was continuing to make.

She was aiming to become “Dr Sacavia Henry and nothing is going to stop me,” Henry said to loud cheers.

She urged those entering high school to avoid selfishness and to care about others. “Is not you alone,” she said.

It was announced at the function that JISCO/ Alpart Jamaica, the Alpart Community Council and the EVC are spending $20 million on their joint back-to-school assistance programme for the 2019/20 academic year.

The money is going towards scholarships, grants, transportation assistance, book vouchers, and other school supplies for 2,500 students. The students hail from the 75 JISCo Alpart operating communities in south-eastern St Elizabeth and southern Manchester.

The beneficiaries range from basic and primary school students, those about to enter high school, already in high school, as well as students at the tertiary level.

The expenditure by JISCO/ Alpart, the community council and its EVC for the new school year, compares to $13 million for 1,800 students in 2018/19.

The Chinese metals giant JISCO acquired Alpart from Russian conglomerate UC Rusal in 2016. It resumed alumina refining in 2017, following mothballing of the plant in 2009.

The community council was established in the 1990s to facilitate dialogue between Alpart and locals. The EVC is the council’s business arm, serving as a contractor of labour and services to JISCO/Alpart. It is also a registered charity.

Camilla Rochester, operations manager for the EVC, said the annual investment by the three entities reflected recognition of education’s true worth.

“We have not, nor can we lose with education,” said Rochester. “More importantly we recognise the value of education to the development of communities in Alpart’s operating areas and to paving the way for the upliftment of our young people and their families,” she added.

JISCO/Alpart’s Managing Director Zhang Jun told the audience that the company remained committed to its host communities and the wider Jamaica despite “challenges” facing the bauxite/alumina plant. JISCO/Alpart has been badly affected in recent times by low alumina prices on the world market.

The plant recently laid off 250 workers as part of a cost-cutting exercise. It subsequently rehired 50. JISCO has said it will be modernising the more than 50-year-old alumina plant, said to be among the world’s most inefficient.