The Tribune

By LAMECH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

ljohnson@tribunemedia.net

FAMILY Island students accepted to the College of the Bahamas will no longer have to delay their education if unable to find a room in the campus dormitory or afford rent.

This assurance was given by Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham during the Free National Movement's rally in Governors Harbour following their Central and South Eleuthera constituency office opening on Saturday.

Speaking to a large crowd of supporters at Governors Harbour Ball Park, Mr Ingraham said the issue would be dealt with in the FNM's next term in office should it win the upcoming elections.

"I was pained to learn that 80 Family Island students who qualified to enter COB last year have been unable to do so because there was insufficient space in the college dorms and they could not afford to pay rent in Nassau.

"I promise you tonight that in our next term in office, we will construct additional dormitory space to accommodate more family island students and we will provide rental stipends to needs tested students who cannot be accommodated in the dormitories."

The Prime Minister said education has always been a top priority for the FNM.

Over the past five years, the government spent $25 million to help Bahamians students attend the College of the Bahamas on scholarships, he said.

COB's Student Union extended its appreciation to the Prime Minister for his promise, saying help with accommodation has been needed for years.

"The residential campus is particularly made home to numerous Family Island students every semester, so with each influx of their arrival, facility improvements become more and more mandatory to suit our fellow students' growing population," said COBUS in a statement.