Post-Cabinet Media Briefing- Thursday 15th July, 2021.

The Government has awarded National Bursaries to 268 eligible students who excelled at the 2020 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations.

Minister of Education, Dr. the Hon. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly made the announcement at the Post-Cabinet Media Briefing held at the Diplomatic Centre, St. Ann’s today (Thursday 15th July, 2021).

In November 2020, the Cabinet made 500 National Bursaries available to students who are citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and would have sat CAPE over a period of two consecutive years in Form 6, including the year of the award.

The Education Minister said, “in addition to the 100 scholarships already awarded to the CAPE 2020 cohort, this brought the total number of students eligible for support at the Undergraduate level to 600 from 2020 onwards, as opposed to 400 as previously obtained.” This action she explained allows for greater equity in the distribution of precious resources.

Minister Gadsby-Dolly stated that The Scholarship and Advanced Training Division received a total of 282 applications for the National Bursary, and said the total annual expenditure for the 268 bursary awardees in fiscal 2020 was estimated at $14,792,887.

The Minister also announced that the National Bursary Application Process for students who wrote the CAPE exams in 2020, will re-open on Monday 19th July, 2021 to Monday 9th August, 2021.

She said, “this now gives an opportunity to a further 232 students who fit the criteria but may not have made the deadline, to receive the assistance of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago for their local or regional undergraduate studies.”