The National Community Foundation (NCF) has awarded thirty-two full scholarships and twelve bursaries to students who excelled in this year’s Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment (CPEA), formerly known as the Common Entrance Examinations. The official presentation ceremony takes place on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, at the Castries City Hall.
This year, the Foundation received the highest number of applications in its history, a reflection of both the growing needs in Saint Lucian communities and the trust families continue to place in the NCF. “Every scholarship granted today represents a door opened, a burden lifted and a dream somewhat more attainable,” said NCF Executive Director, Ms. Vanya Reid-Hinkson. “It is the recognition that the circumstances of your birth should not define the limits of your future. Students, you inherit more than just a scholarship, you inherit a responsibility to try, to preserve, to persevere and to rise above challenges.”
The full scholarships will cover five years of comprehensive educational expenses, including registration fees, uniforms, footwear, books, examination fees, and a termly allowance for meals and transportation. The bursaries will provide support for uniforms, shoes, books and CSEC fees over the same period. With this new cohort, the number of scholarship recipients supported by the NCF in the 2025–2026 academic year will rise to 205.
Chair of the Education Committee and former principal of the Laborie Girls’ Primary, Agatha Jn Panel, noted the absence of fathers in many scholarship applicants’ lives. Addressing the recipients, she urged: “It is up to you to take up the mantle and show us who are on our way out that you are not going to waste your time. Receiving the scholarship is the beginning, not the end… Make Saint Lucia proud. We need you.”
The Foundation’s success is possible through the generosity of partners, particularly the National Insurance Corporation (NIC). “The NIC is indeed proud to once again support the NCF scholarship program,” said Shervon Alfred, Communications Manager of the NIC. “This year alone, over 200 students will be supported by scholarships and bursaries from the NCF, and we are very proud of that. Part of our mission at the NIC is to assist in the development of our nation—and what better way than by supporting the development of our young people at this tender age.”
Established in 2002, the NCF continues to demonstrate dedicated committment to empowering Saint Lucian families through education and community support.