KINGSTON, Jamaica — As Jamaicans make final preparations for the start of the new school year on Monday, September 5, Minister of Education and Youth, Fayval Williams, is encouraging parents to view their spend on back-to-school necessities as an investment in their children’s future.

“I know we’re on the cusp of back-to-school and I know the many anxieties that exist among parents in terms of the spend that many of them would have done already and others are thinking ‘where am I going to get the money?’. The spend for uniform, shoes, books, knapsacks, transportation, lunch, all the other things that come with education… I want to say to our parents, it’s an investment, don’t see it as a cost,” she said.

“It’s an investment in the future of your children,” Williams continued.

The Education Minister was speaking at the Guardian Group Foundation’s annual scholarship awards ceremony held at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston on Friday.

Williams also used the opportunity to remind students that setting goals, being focused, making positive interactions and inculcating self-discipline, will allow them to achieve, as they return to school.

She said public affirmations of their academic achievements such as the awarding of scholarships and grants, “can serve as an incentive to continue doing well for themselves, their families and their schools”.

Under the theme ‘Dominate with Excellence’, the Guardian Group Foundation handed out a total of 36 awards to different categories of scholars. These include scholarships to the National Top Boy and Top Girl of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) Exams; scholarships and grants to PEP children of policyholders of Guardian Life Limited; PEP, tertiary scholarships, and grants to children of Guardian Life Limited employees; as well as grants to top students from schools in the Corporate and rural areas. This is at an overall value of more than $6.7 million.

In her remarks, President, Guardian Life Limited, Meghon Miller -Brown, noted that the provision of the awards allows the organization to make a positive impact on communities.

“It is our hope that these contributions will ease the stress of financing your children’s education so you can focus on supporting them in areas that really matter,” Miller -Brown stated.