Government to increase financial support to students studying in Cuba

Mr. Golding, along with other government Ministers, arrived in Havana, Cuba this morning (May 4) at the start of a 3-day official visit and began his hectic schedule with a meeting with Jamaican descendants living in Cuba and students from across Cuba.

Addressing the students at the Jamaican Embassy in Havana this afternoon (May 4), Mr. Golding expressed appreciation to the government of Cuba for the tremendous gesture it has extended to so many Jamican students over the years in providing the opportunity for study.

Mr. Golding said that in discussions with the Jamaican Ambassador to Cuba, H.E Elinor Sherlock, he had learnt there were certain challenges faced by students that needed to be addressed. He said there are 3-streams of students studying in Cuba. Those who come through the bi-lateral arrangement where Cuba provides Jamaica with a certain number of scholarships, those who come under the Caricom facility that Cuba extends to the Caricom region and there are those who come under scholarships which were part of an arrangement between the People’s National party and the Communist Party of Cuba.

Mr. Golding said government is providing some financial support for those on the bi-lateral programme and on the Caricom programme, but no support for those who came through the PNP and the Communist Party.

But Mr. Golding said he did not believe this was a fair arrangement. “If you are Jamaicans studying here, we have a responsibility to all of you. Therefore I intend to arrange that no matter what was the source of your scholarship, once you are here as Jamaican students, you are to be included in the programme of financial support that we offer’, he told the room full of students to resounding applause.

He noted that the US$1,200 allocated to each student is inadequate but he gave the assurance that when he returns home, he will be meeting with the Minister of Finance, to determine what adjustments for increase, could be considered.