Douglas to offer 50 scholarships annually for local students

With the General Election in St. Kitts and Nevis now less than a year away, now is the time for Parties to think about their flagship policies and monitor the mood of the electorate.

It is with this in mind that the Leader of the Opposition, the Honourable Mr.Denzil Douglas of the Labour Party, has chosen to release some details of his plans to broaden opportunities in the medical sciences for young people in St. Kitts and Nevis by offering scholarships.

St. Kitts and Nevis boasts of having several high-class medical universities – the University of Medicine and Health Sciences, the Windsor University School of Medicine, the Medical University of the Americas, the International University of Nursing, the International University of the Health Sciences School of Medicine and the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine can all be found in St. Kitts and Nevis.

Curiously though, the number of young people from St. Kitts and Nevis who attend these universities are few and far between. While these institutions are offshore facilities used by many students from the United States who may not meet the requirements of Universities there, students from the local area find it extremely competitive and those wanting a career in medicine often end up going abroad.

“What is happening today is that a relatively large number of our young people are going off to North America. They are going off to Cuba, in particular” said Mr Douglas, speaking to our reporter in an interview last week.

Mr Douglas promised to arrange meetings with university management after which he hoped to secure agreements to provide scholarships for young people from the local area to study at these institutions via Government subsidies.

When pushed to provide a number on how many scholarships the Government would subsidise, Mr Douglas said he was absolutely committed to securing “no less than 50 scholarships” to be made available annually at the first onset. He further promised that this number would increase gradually in line with his planned reform of the Citizenship by Investment Programme.

Though this policy may not grab the headlines given its subject matter, it could make a big difference to the lives of many young people in St. Kitts and Nevis and may pave the way for a whole class of highly-skilled, locally-trained individuals in the medical profession.

Mr Douglas’s willingness to put a tangible target on his proposal certainly makes it easier to evaluate this policy but, as has been demonstrated time and time again, making a promise and keeping a promise are two entirely different things.