KINGSTON, Jamaica — Twelve recipients of the Prime Minister’s Youth Awards for Excellence were on Saturday awarded a total $1.2 million in scholarship grants from the Sagicor Foundation.

According to Sagicor, each recipient was presented with $100,000 towards the completion of a university or college course of study.

Sagicor said the presentations were made by Assistant Vice President of Capital Markets, Mischa McLeod-Hines during a ceremony on the lawns of Jamaica House.

The grant awardees were: Chad Rattray, Tia Ferguson, Barbara Lee Grant, Rickardo Anderson, Jerome Palmer, Jamila Falak James, Shawna-Kaye Hines, Jhanel Tomlinson, Sasha-Gaye Belnavis, Okeito Thompson, Nyouka Baugh and Tajay Able.                                

Executive Director of the Sagicor Foundation, Alysia White urged the awardees to remain steadfast in their pursuit of excellence and for the achievement of their educational goals.

“Sagicor Foundation is happy to share in this experience with the awardees who all displayed such a commitment to excellence in their various fields. Our goal is to contribute to youth and educational development in our country and this initiative is one of the ways we do that,” she said.

According to Sagicor, last year the Foundation contributed $1 million to 10 recipients during the 2018 staging of the Youth Awards and each recipient received $100,000.

The Prime Minister’s Youth Awards for Excellence is held annually to recognise young Jamaicans for excellence in academics, arts and culture, entrepreneurship and social enterprise, leadership and international achievement. The Awards also recognise persons in the categories of sports, youth in service, youth development, environmental protection, innovation in science and technology, agriculture and agro-processing, and journalism.