Education Minister Shawn Edward has urged young men in Saint Lucia to pursue higher education opportunities, as he expressed concern about a gender imbalance in tertiary education.
“It pains me to see we are sending 30 students overseas to study, and 25 of them are young ladies with only five fellows on that journey. We cannot continue to develop our country in such a lopsided way. There must be balance and parity along the lines of gender,” Edward said at a recent Taiwan scholarship briefing.
He indicated that while meritocracy will guide the process of selecting awardees, the Ministry of Education will make deliberate efforts to encourage more young men to apply for scholarships.
The Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expanded its scholarship programme this year, offering 35 awards, up from 30 last year, for Saint Lucian students pursuing graduate degrees in Taiwan.
Edward also mentioned other international scholarship options: “As we speak, 150 young Saint Lucians have been awarded first-generation scholarships at Monroe University. [In] September, another 50 will enroll at Monroe College. So, there are a lot of educational and scholarship opportunities available. I want you to apply.”
He encouraged students to explore opportunities beyond Taiwan: “Apply to go to Cuba if you want to be a doctor, apply to go to Indonesia, Serbia, Morocco, apply to study in Hungary. Apply for everything that is before you.”
Since the Taiwan scholarship programme began in 2007, more than 300 Saint Lucians have benefited, with 182 currently studying in Taiwan.
Ambassador Nicole Su highlighted the growing interest and expansion of the programme.
“In order to facilitate more Saint Lucian talent to pursue a graduate degree in English, Taiwan is now offering partnerships with 19 universities to offer master’s and PhD degree programmes,” she said.
Ambassador Su also noted the recent addition of scholarships specifically for public health-related fields such as nursing and biomedical engineering.
Minister should actually create a special scholarship program for males to award scholarships to them. This should also include Vocational studies.