The 22 Jamaican students who were forced to flee Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of the country in February each received grants valued at JM$75,000 from the People’s National Party (PNP) to assist with their studies.
Leader of the Opposition Mark Golding, who handed over the cheques to the students and parents, urged Corporate Jamaica and the Government to provide additional support to the needy students.
Noting that two of the former Ukrainian students were from his St. Andrew South constituency, Golding said the plight of the group had touched his heart when he heard the pleas from parents, grandparents, and students who were in the eastern European country.
The party had initially raised US$10,000 which was given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to distribute to the students. Golding had noted that the funds were to be used for “transportation, food and other necessities” related to the repatriation of the students.
However, the PNP President later indicated that the funds should be distributed to each student towards his/her education costs.
The government said due to his change of intention regarding the use of the funds, the funds were returned to his account.
At that point, Golding said he was still of the view that the money would be used to benefit the students. He said he found that development inappropriate against the backdrop that the Government had pledged to fully fund the cost to bring home the students.
“I felt that that was the Government’s contribution. I think that more should be done and should have been done but we were glad that those costs were covered but our funding should not be used to reimburse the Government for that.”
The students had also received assistance from Jamaicans across the diaspora.
While four of the students were accepted into the University of the West Indies (UWI) to complete their studies, several other displaced students were accepted to schools in the United States.
“A few of the students were placed at Colombia [University]. And there are still some opportunities that we are currently working on specifically for the Ukraine students with Hartford Healthcare. We’re just waiting to finalize with them and then we can go ahead and make an announcement,” revealed Jamaica’s Consul General to New York, Alsion Roach Wilson.
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