by Mervin Matthew,
Government Information Service
 Some of the scholarship recipients posing
with Education Minister and the President
of Dominica
Ten Dominican youths leave the island this week for the People’s Republic of China.
The students are all recipients of the 2011 scholarship programme and for the next few years will pursue studies in a variety of fields.
Last week, the students attended a ceremony at the Chinese Embassy which was attended by China’s Ambassador to Dominica, Wang Zonglai, His Excellency the President of Dominica, Dr. Nicholas Liverpool, Hon Minister for Education and Human Resource Development Petter Saint Jean and Hon Parliamentary Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office Kelver Darroux.
“The eight universities that you are going to study in soon are located in eight major cities of China, seven of which are provincial capitals. There is a beautiful interior city in the central part of China. All of them are frontiers of China’s economy and academic development.”
 His Excellency China’s
Ambassador to Dominica,
Wang Zonglai
Hon Education Minister, Petter Saint Jean, reminded the students of their roles as ambassadors to their country while in the People’s Republic of China.
“You go out as ambassadors of this beloved country in a land, that for many of you, you have heard of or read only on television and in books. But we are counting on you, as our ambassadors, to set the pace for future students who will follow your trail.”
Hon Parliamentary Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, Kelver Darroux, had sound words of advice for the scholarship recipients.
 Hon Parliamentary
Secretary in the Prime
Minister’s Office,
Kelver Darroux
“In addition to the academic and intellectual benefits, you will also be beneficiaries of a wonderful cultural exchange as a result of being bilingual in the future and sharing your respective cultural attributes with your host. You will be a great distance away, but I urge you to never forget Dominica and the purpose for which you are there. That is why, students, I urge you to be disciplined. Never forget your purpose for going to China. When you have to be at class make sure that you are in class. When you have to be studying in China, make sure that you are studying. I know that you are relatively young people and the opportunities are out there, may attractions, but the onus is on you to remain focused on your goals as individuals and also as a collective to ensure that at the end of your tenure, you have achieved what you had set your mind to previously set out to achieve because your education depends on you.” |
