The Most Hon. Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Leader of the Jamaica Labour Party and Chairman of the Jamaica Labour Party Education Fund, visited The University of the West Indies (The UWI) Mona Campus, on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 to present the institution with gifts from the Jamaica Labour Party Education Fund and the Prime Minister’s Positive Jamaica Foundation; the total value of this donation was $2.5m.

Noting that the COVID-19 Pandemic has affected students in more ways than one and in keeping with a previous donation to The UWI Mona Campus, Prime Minister Holness, said he wanted students who would not be captured in the scholarship approach to benefit from these gifts where possible.

Prime Minister Holness said the scholarships are open in that any student from any field could benefit and that The University could consider allocating funds to assist students with tuition balances, or grants to assist those with connectivity challenges or to access devices.

Responding to the donation, The UWI Mona’s Pro Vice-Chancellor and Principal, Professor Dale Webber thanked Prime Minister Holness and said that it will go a far way to assist students to complete their studies especially in these uncertain times and unexpected challenges posed by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

“We are University for all and so Access, which is a part of our Triple A Strategy is very important. To that end, we are grateful for this contribution, it will certainly assist our students in these challenging times. We are thankful for your continued support and generosity to the Mona Campus. We are also grateful for the symbolism, that is, the importance of giving and certainly hope this example will be followed by others in private and public sector”, Prof. Webber said.

Guild President Sujae Boswell, who was present at the event also expressed gratitude on behalf of the student body for the PM’s kind gesture. He indicated that students and their families are undergoing extreme hardship and the donation is an investment that is deeply appreciated by the student body.