November 12, 2019

This is the second year that The Mustique Charitable Foundation has funded the Youth Employability Skills Summer Program at the SVG Community College-Division of Vocational and Technical Education.

Last year, there were 90 and this year 92 participants, for a total of 182 at-risk youths being taught skills that enable them to seek and find employment. Upon graduation, they receive start-up kits consisting of the tools of their new trade such as a carpentry set or sewing machine.

Mr. Roger Pritchard, Chairman of The Mustique Charitable Foundation commented:

“These young men and women are moving into a market that needs and will absorb their skills and this will continue the economic expansion so vital to the long-term success of St. Vincent. MCF wishes them all the very best.”

The Mustique Charitable Foundation is dedicated to helping those who are in need in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. MCF focuses on three areas: vocational scholarships, pediatric healthcare, and literacy. In its four years of operations, MCF has contributed close to EC $2,200,000 to fund 520 vocational scholarships; 18 surgical teams providing diagnoses/surgeries on over 600 Vincentian children; the purchase of 11,600 books for school libraries in St. Vincent; and literacy links covering 89 schools and some 19,300 students.

Beyond the statistics, there is story after story of a child who can rise out of a wheelchair and lead a normal, happy childhood after a life-changing operation, a young starting reader where the doors of literacy have been opened and the light of opportunity begins to shine in, a jobless and dispirited youth given the opportunity to learn a skill and feel the vital surge of pride in accomplishment so necessary for a productive life. These stories are worth repeating.

The Mustique Charitable Foundation is a registered U.S. 501(c)3 non-profit organization and is funded by the Mustique community of homeowners, renters, and friends.

October 18, 2019

THIRTY-FOUR teachers who have successfully completed Bachelor Degrees in the teaching of Mathematics and Language Arts along with the representatives from the Mustique Charitable Foundation and SVGCC.

The University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, will host its graduation ceremony tomorrow, Saturday, October 19. On the list of graduands will be the names of 34 teachers from St. Vincent and the Grenadines who have successfully completed their Bachelor of Education Degree in The Teaching of Mathematics and The Teaching of Language Arts at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC). Forty-five teachers began these franchised programmes from the University in September 2016 and 42 wrote the final examination in May 2019.

Thirty-four teachers successfully completing their programme in the specified time; six of them received First Class Honours (Teaching of Mathematics), 25 Upper Second Class Honours, and three, Lower Second Class Honours degrees.

The SVGCC will continue to offer the franchised degree programmes from the University of the West Indies. This academic year, 52 teachers are pursuing studies in the three-year part-time Bachelor of Education Special Needs Education programme.

The SVGCC is also offering a Masters of Education programme in collaboration with the School of Education at the UWI Cave Hill Campus in three options: namely, Educational Leadership, School Counselling, and Language and Literacy. The current cohort of 33 teachers will conclude their studies in July 2020.

A new cohort will be accepted in September 2020. Meanwhile, the Mustique Charitable Foundation (MCF) has once again partnered with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) to provide assistance through partial scholarships to its students. On October 3, 2019, 25 students from the Division of Teacher Education (DTE) received partial scholarships totalling US$38,564 from the MCF. This represents approximately 80 percent of the students’ costs for the academic year, including Registration fees, University of the West Indies Examination fees, travel and food expenses. The excited students are all pre-service teacher trainees and so have no reliable source of income for the period of study while pursuing their Teacher Training. In particular, in the second semester when they proceed on the 10-week teaching practicum, this creates a particular strain on the students who will need to prepare all of their teaching aids for the classroom. This year marks the third year that the Foundation is assisting the teacher trainees.

Present at the hand-over were Dularie Malcolm, Administration Director of the MCF and the MCF’s Administration Assistant Sheena Child. The MCF is a charitable organisation that was incorporated in 2008 and has been assisting Vincentians since 2016. The St. Vincent and the Grenadines Community College looks forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with the Mustique Charitable Foundation, and thanks the Foundation for its very generous donation to these deserving trainees.