Public Scholars Presented But No Reference Given To Jerome Fitzgerald

The public scholars programme gave out the awards to the 162 young people who will head off to college in the fall.  The awards were given out on Friday 22 June.  It was quite a moving event with Omar Davis, the young Bahamian man, telling his story of growing up with a drug dealer father and his making a decision after watching his father die that he would make something of himself. Then there was the young lady Shawnteish Johnson who told the story of moving from Acklins with her mother to make something of herself and while living in Nassau having to move 15 times and never quite had a proper pace to stay, losing everything that she owned each time they moved.  She too decided to make something of herself.  Congratulations to them all.  Senator Fred Mitchell in the Senate on 25 June though said that a disservice was done to Jerome Fitzgerald who initiated the programme, thought it up and designed it.  He did this because he said 25 per cent of the school population, i. e. the private school children, were getting 94 per cent of the scholarships.  So he decided something had to be done about it and so this programme is only for public school students, specially designed with US colleges and Universities.  Congratulations to the students.  Thank you Jerome Fitzgerald.