The government of Taiwan has awarded bursaries totalling EC$320,000 to 524 Vincentian students this year, as officials from both countries used a presentation ceremony in Bequia to underline the depth of the 28‑year education partnership and the 45‑year diplomatic ties.
The bursaries, under the Taiwanese Human Resource Development Programme, benefit students at the primary, secondary, tertiary and technical levels across St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG).
“This year, 524 Vincentian students from primary, secondary, tertiary institutions as well as technical programmes, including St. Vincent and Bequia, Mustique and Southern Grenadines, benefit from the scholarships with a total allocation of EC$320,000,” Taiwan’s ambassador to SVG, Fiona Huei-Chun Fan, said.
The ambassador pointed out that 12,500 Vincentian students have benefited from the initiative since it began in 1998 and linked the bursaries to Taiwan’s focus on youth and skills development.
“Young people are not only vital to our present but also the bridge to our future,” she said, noting that Taiwan continues to support programmes such as YES, SET and the Taiwan Scholarship.
Fan said 321 Vincentian students have so far studied in Taiwan at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels in fields such as agriculture, health care, culinary arts, and technology.
“I encourage all the students to study hard, apply for Taiwan scholarships… and to seize the opportunity to explore innovative fields, particularly in technology and information and communication,” Fan said.
The ambassador used Taiwan’s position in the global tech economy to motivate students, telling them that Taiwan proudly ranks as the world’s 22nd-largest economy and sixth in global competitiveness.
She noted that 13% of the world’s laptops and around 90% of the world’s AI servers are produced in Taiwan.
Fan also pointed to Taiwan’s role in smartphone production, noting that Taiwan makes about 20% of the 1,500 components in an iPhone.
“We don’t make the most … of it, but we make the most critical and expensive parts… such as the processor that makes the iPhone run faster, the modem that connects to the internet… the Wi‑Fi chips, semiconductor chips, and the eyes of iPhone — that is the premium camera lens that is designed in Taiwan.
“That is why I encourage you to strive for excellence, seize the opportunity and to apply for Taiwan scholarships,” the ambassador said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Godwin Friday said the bursaries go beyond the partnership between the governments of SVG and Taiwan to promote education.
“It is a partnership between peoples … When [relations] transcend governments and leaders and get down into the people… most importantly through education… that is a cultural deepening and a relationship that transcends just the level of government,” said Friday, who is also MP for the Northern Grenadines, which includes Bequia.
Friday characterised education as the central offering of the state and society to youth.
“There is nothing more precious that you would possess… nothing is more valuable, more useful than the natural intelligence that God gave you.”
He called on teachers to treat their work as a vocation, saying, “You’re influencing minds. You’re shaping people. You’re making people… What you do stays with them for life.”
Friday warned that negative experiences in the classroom can leave long‑term marks.
“An injury occurring to a student by some loose comment, by some bad experience that they have in the classroom stays with them for life,” he said.
“So let us treat this occupation, this vocation, this calling, with the seriousness, the reverence and the importance that it deserves.”
He offered corresponding advice to parents, telling them, “When the children … come home and you’re tired … and they bring some piece of work, and they want to show you, stop what you’re doing, watch it,” he said.
“If you look like you’re not interested in it, then why should they be interested?”
Friday linked the country’s reliance on human capital to the Taiwan partnership.
“We don’t have gold and silver, we don’t have oil, we don’t have any of those natural resources,” he said.
“But we have the best, the most important one — the intelligence, the good health of our people, the goodwill of friends who would help us, like Taiwan, to achieve what we want to do in education.”
He told Fan that SVG takes Taiwan’s contribution seriously and thanked the ally “for your commitment over 28 years, and I hope it goes on for many, many, many more years to come, because it builds a foundation upon which our nation is built.”
Speaking on behalf of her ministry, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Senator Lavern King, said 244 of the recipients are from the primary school level, 190 from the secondary level, and 90 students at the tertiary or technical institutes.
“These funds are specifically designed to help to ease the burden of essential costs, whether it be from transportation expenses to the nutrition of the students, uniform and other supplies to allow students to be able to go into the classroom with confidence,” King said.
She said students were chosen because they either demonstrated academic excellence or showed “incredible resilience in the face of challenges.
“As a result, you can be guaranteed that every single recipient here today is someone who is deserving of receiving it,” the senator said.
King reiterated the government’s stated policy on inclusion, saying the government is committed “to supporting students with disabilities and those from underprivileged backgrounds, and ensuring that no one is left behind as we continue to show empathy through our education service”.
