National Commercial Bank (NCB) and Northern Caribbean University (NCU) will jointly finance scholarships for 25-30 new students entering the Hyacinth Chen School of Nursing, which will be officially opened at NCU on August 10.

The tuition scholarships, called the NCB/NCU Inaugural Scholarships, are each valued at US$3,500 (approximately $248,500) for the students' first year of study.

His mother's honour

The commitment was made at a special meeting of NCB chairman, Michael Lee Chin, and NCU president, Dr. Herbert Thompson, held recently to discuss the progress of the construction of the nursing school.

Construction on the facility commenced in March 2007 following Lee Chin's donation of $142 million to build the world-class nursing school, which is named in honour of his mother, Hyacinth Chen.

In outlining the parameters of the scholarship, Dr. Thompson said the scholarship "is open to Jamaican citizens only, and applicants must have applied or be in the process of applying for entry into NCU's nursing programme".

Applicants will be required to sit a scholarship exam, which will be administered in June.

A release from the institution indicated that NCU has, since 1970, been playing a major role in the training of nurses.