Scholarship keeps Demonia’s dreams alive

"Mommy, I'm going to stop from school now and go look work."

That was the difficult conversation 20-year-old Demonia Chung had with her mother after completing studies at Montego Bay Community College. With two younger brothers still in school and the high cost of tuition and boarding for university looming, Chung felt she had no choice but to put her dreams on hold. Her mother, however, refused to give up.

"She told me we would find a way," Chung recalled. That way came through with the 2025 N.C.B. Foundation Scholarships and Grants Programme. Chung was named one of 15 new awardees this year and will receive $400,000 annually under the digital scholarship to complete her studies.

"I'm very excited and thankful," said Chung, the digital scholar for Trelawny. " Now I can focus on my studies without the stress of finding a job to pay my tuition. This scholarship gives me freedom to explore hobbies, participate in more community outreach and network. Best of all, it takes a lot of the financial burden off my parents."

The 2025 awardees fall under three categories: national scholars, who receive $700,000 per year; Dr Rickert Allen scholars, who receive $600,000 annually; and digital scholars, who receive $400,000 each year for three years. N.C.B. Foundation Director Kenia Mattis said the programme is designed to ease the pressures many families face.

"Behind every scholarship is a young Jamaican who no longer has to choose between potential and sacrifice. That is the impact we are proud to make," she said.

Mattis added, "One of the most important things to us is that our scholarships and grants programme goes beyond funding tuition. We're also investing in mentorship, life skills, and community support because success has many dimensions. We're helping build a better Jamaica, one scholar at a time."

Now in its 17th year, the N.C.B. Foundation's scholarships and grants programme has awarded more than 1,000 scholarships and nearly 1,900 grants, investing more than $1 billion in education and impacting more than 2,800 students across the island.