The mood among the recipients of the National Commercial Bank (NCB) scholarship was one of jubilation and relief when news of their good fortunes was officially released on Wednesday (August 14).

Out of an original pool with scores of applicants, 18 lucky young men and women found themselves at the AC Marriott Hotel on Wednesday morning, initially expecting to undergo an additional phase of vetting for the prestigious NCB Foundation Grant receipts/scholarship.

However, upon their arrival, it would become clear that they had been summoned for a surprise reveal, being informed that they had ‘made the cut’.

NCB’s scholarship programme was first introduced in 2008 and has since been an annual occurrence. It — along with several other initiatives by the National Commercial Bank Foundation — has been described as a way to ‘give back’ to the country, by investing in the nation’s future through the youth.

The ceremony at AC Marriott, in Kingston would be christened under the theme: ‘Sweet 16 — Milestone Moments’, dedicated both to the foundation’s 16 years of offering scholarships and the impact the receipts would have on “the future leadership and hope of Jamaica”.

Of the eighteen recipients, 10 were males and eight were females. Nearly every parish was represented, with only Hanover having no representative. The distribution of grants-to-parishes for the remaining 13 was fairly even, with St Catherine having the most scholarship awardees with three, followed by St Andrew with two. Though from diverse backgrounds, all the recipients were in the same age group, making the transfer from high school to university.

Awardee Calisia Thompson from St Andrew was quick to express her happiness, newfound confidence and determination following the awards ceremony. She said that with her foray into tertiary education about to begin, NCB’s scholarship was a welcome boost that would prove immeasurable.

“I’ll be a first-year student at UWI doing biomedical engineering,” said Calisia. “I just feel really proud and really happy [for this scholarship] because, without it, I honestly would have had to get a second job to pay for that tuition…so this is like a really big help and it’s alleviating that burden off not only me but also my parents.”

The NCB’s Tertiary scholarships and grants in 2024 had a cumulative sum of $7.2 million to go around for all 18 participants, with St Elizabeth’s Joshua Newsome and John-Ross Cooks of Kingston getting the largest amount of this total with $700,000 apiece. Such financial aid, though prefaced on the condition of the recipients maintaining good grades, is enough to cover significant portions, and in some cases all of the tuition fee costs, depending on the course being studied.

Angel Bailey, is from St Ann and she’s about to begin her Bio-technology programme at UWI.

“I’m grateful and really thrilled that there are people out there who are as passionate as they [in helping others] because this will cover my entire tuition. So as long as I maintain a GPA I should be fine,” she said. “I’m just really happy to have gotten this opportunity.”

The NCB Foundation’s Tertiary level scholarships and grants have, since inception, invested just over $1 billion to assist over 13,800 students.