Building a strong nation starts with building strong children. Sagicor Jamaica believes in the future of the country and seeks to strengthen it by committing to assisting the development of Jamaica’s youngest and brightest minds. This affords them the opportunity to go on to contribute and influence Jamaica significantly in the future. It is with that in mind that the Sagicor GSAT Scholarship was developed. 

The scholarship is awarded on a merit basis to dependent children of subscribers to the Government Employee’ Administrative Services Only (GEASO) and Commercial Health Policies administered by Sagicor Life of Jamaica. Recipients are selected in conjunction with the Ministry of Education based on performance in the annual Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).

The programme, which began in 1994, awarded 14 scholarships to students who performed outstandingly. Since then 16 scholarships have began awarded annually, making a total of 266 awards to year 2014/2015. The scholarships are awarded to three dependent children of Civil Servants, three dependent children of Teachers, two dependent children of Police, two dependent children of Nurses and four dependent children of Private Sector subscribers. 

One such recipient is David Mackay, the son of James Mackay, an employee of Apec Consultants. James Mackay is a commercial health insurance policyholder with Sagicor, through his place of employment. Sagicor awarded JMD$20,000 per year for five years to David Mackay of Stella Maris Preparatory school in 2010. After scoring 100 percent in all subjects, short of Communication Studies in which he scored 11 out of 12, David received a Government Scholarship for his excellent work. It was then that Sagicor highlighted and rewarded David for a job well done. 

David’s parents were happy to receive the additional help and is thankful that Sagicor assisted them. The extra help has afforded David to pursue extracurricular activities, like karate classes, that develop him even further than the reach of intellectual content. He has been able to focus and grow under the guise of leisure. 

In order for David and other scholarship recipients like him to maintain the scholarships gifted to them, the parents/ guardians must be a subscriber to the Government of Jamaica health scheme or any other group health policy administered by Sagicor Life Jamaica Limited. Also, the Awardee must maintain an academic average of at least ‘B’ or 75% average overall.