Thirty-two of the more than 50,000 students who sat the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in March, have been awarded Government scholarships. Thirty-four scholarships have been awarded to other high-performing students by the private sector.

The top boy and girl scholarship winners are Romario White of Duhaney Park Primary and Rachel Chin of The Queen's Prep School. Based on the Ministry of Education and Youth's GSAT Scholarship Administration Criteria these students will receive the most lucrative of the private-sector scholarships, a release from the ministry said last night.

The top four Government scholarship winners are Romario Maxwell of St. Richard's Primary, who won the Marcus Garvey Scholarship; Kimberly Webb of Howard Cooke Primary, who won the George William Gordon Scholarship; Adrene Hibbert of Seaforth Primary, who won the Paul Bogle Scholarship, and Britney Gordon of Howard Cooke Primary, who received the JAG Smith Scholarship.

Government of Jamaica Scholarships were also awarded to 14 top boys and 14 topgirls from government primary and private preparatory schools across five of the six educational regions.

Private-sector providers

Private-sector GSAT scholarship providers include Bank of Nova Scotia, Blue Cross of Jamaica, Horlicks, Guardian Life and Kraft Foods. Other scholarships include Petrojam Limited Scholarship, the Aubrey Phillips Memorial Scholarship from the Jamaica Teachers' Association and the Dr. Mabel Downer Memorial Scholarship.

"The Ministry of Education and Youth actively encourages private-sector scholarships, in keeping with its programme to stimulate greater private-sector involvement in the education system," the release said.

It noted that "GSAT scholarship winners all performed outstandingly in the examinations".

The top four scholarships awarded by the Government of Jamaica are valued at $180,000 each while the other 28 Government scholarships are valued at $100,000 each.

"The Ministry of Education and Youth actively encourages private-sector scholarships, in keeping with its programme to stimulate greater private-sector involvement in the education system.