Four JPS employees to leave on South Korean scholarship programme
Published:Tuesday | August 8, 2017 | 12:00 AMPaul Clarke
Four Jamaica Public Service Company (JPS) employees will depart Jamaica this week to study on a 16-month, all-expenses-paid master's degree scholarship programme in South Korea.
The scholarship was established under the 2017 Technical Cooperation Pro-gramme of the Government of the Republic of Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA).
This year, Kevin White, a JPS foundation coordinator; Antoi-nette Harris, cost of service analyst, will pursue a master's degree in industry and trade policy at the Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies, Kyung Hee University, from August 2017 to February 2019.
Yenoh Wheatle, senior power system engineer, and Shanel Green, a customer service analyst, will pursue the master's degree in energy science and policy at the Graduate School of International Studies, Ajou University.
South Korean Ambassador to Jamaica Young Gyu Lee told The Gleaner the programme will contribute significantly to the development of Jamaicans and further strengthen the ties between the two countries.
"Inviting Jamaican partici-pants with capacity and potential to Korea's education and training programmes in various topics will not only help Jamaica build administrative and technical expertise in both the public and private sectors, but also contribute greatly in enhancing relations between Jamaica and Korea." Young said.
He said that KOICA, a Korean government-funded agency, is dedicated to providing grant-aid programmes and is giving full scholarship for tuition, a round-trip air ticket, accommodations, living allowance, and others, to the students during their stay in Korea.
'Relationship between the two countries will expand'
As many as 34 Jamaicans have completed the master's degree scholarship programme in South Korea since the Korean Embassy was reopened in 2005.
"I am confident that relations between our two countries will continue to expand to the mutual benefit of our peoples," Young said at the send-off dinner, held at the Dragon Court Restaurant in Kingston for the scholarship recipients last Friday.
Kevin White, speaking on behalf of the recipients, said that the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is greatly appreciated.
"We are very thankful, very appreciative about this scholarship and we definitely will be proud ambassadors of Jamaica while in South Korea, where we hope to learn all we can in this programme to return home where it will redound to the country's benefit," he said.
Recent scholarship bene-ficiary, Sabrina Morant, herself a JPS employee, urged her colleagues to enjoy the time studying in the Asian country.
Korea has maintained friendly and cooperative relations with Jamaica in various fields, such as people-to-people exchange programmes and development cooperation projects under Korea-Jamaica bilateral relations.