Moon Palace pours $1.1m in scholarships into top PEP students

Thirty-eight high-performing PEP students are heading to high school with a financial boost after the Moon Palace Foundation handed out $1.1 million in grants—the largest scholarship payout in the programme's 11-year history.

The grants, awarded by the charitable arm of Moon Palace Jamaica All Inclusive Resort, will assist students from several primary schools across St Ann as they prepare to begin secondary education.

Recipients will attend high schools including Ocho Rios, St Hilda's, York Castle and Ferncourt in St Ann; Marymount, St Mary High, St Mary Technical and Iona in St Mary; and Westwood High School in Trelawny.

Speaking with The Gleaner, Clifton Reader, Vice President of Palace Resorts Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands, said the investment is about preparing Jamaica's future workforce.

"We're just making sure that we invest in the youth now because in a couple of years' time they will be the ones becoming our employees at every level," Reader said.

He noted that the hospitality industry now requires more specialised skills, making education more important than ever.

"The education has to start now... I do not have a laundry man running around with a wrench anymore. I have qualified electronic technicians. That's where we're going—to make sure the new skills are filled by younger people who are well educated and well trained," he added.

The scholarships ranged from $20,000 to $80,000, with the highest awards going to students who scored 3,350 points and above in this year's Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations.

The programme also recognised the children of Moon Palace employees, with 20 receiving scholarships based on their examination scores.

General Manager of the Moon Palace Foundation, Natalie Boreland, said this year's awards represent the programme's biggest milestone yet.

"Thirty-eight is the highest number of students we've awarded in the 11 years since the scholarship programme started," she said, adding that the top scholarship was increased from $60,000 to $80,000 this year.

The foundation also provides scholarships worth millions of dollars annually to students pursuing tertiary education.

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