KINGSTON, Jamaica— Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Andrew Holness, and Chairman of the Party’s Scholarship Selection Committee Senator Ransford Braham, today donated $1.5 million to the University of the West Indies (UWI).

According to a release from the JLP, Holness made a further donation of $1 million to the institution from his Positive Jamaica Foundation.

The donation, according to the JLP, is to assist students experiencing financial difficulties, particularly those at risk of being de-registered and barred from sitting their examinations.

According to the release, Holness noted that he identifies with the struggle of university students as he too took a chance in going to university not entirely sure how it would be funded and was also the beneficiary of a bursary while he was student at UWI.

He urged students who will benefit from this donation to “give back by paying it forward” when they become employed so that other students would have it a little easier than they did.

The party leader said he was moved to make the donation by recent reports in the media concerning the extreme financial difficulties being faced by university students.

According to Holness, the JLP is more than just politics.

He said the party is a corporate entity with corporate social responsibilities, adding that education has always been a core principle of the JLP.