HIGHER ED TODAY
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Caribbean Life, J 14 uly 31-August 6, 2020
CARIBBEAN ROUNDUP
were closed to all incoming travelers
since March 24, as part of measures to
contain the transmission of the COVID-
19 virus that has affected more than
750 people and killed 10 others.
The tourism minister said the protocols
that have been developed to safeguard
workers, visitors and Jamaicans
will be reviewed periodically, “to ensure
our processes are safe, seamless and
secure.”
He noted that 10,000 masks were distributed
to vulnerable tourism workers
“to help stay safe and reduce the risk of
spreading the disease.”
St. Vincent
St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime
Minister, Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, chairman
of the shareholder governments
of regional airline, LIAT has assured
employees that payment of outstanding
salaries and areas “will
be urgently addressed.”
The Antigua-based
f inancially-strapped
regional airline owes its
staff an estimated US$34.8 million in
severance and holiday payments, which
it is unable to pay.
Gonsalves in a letter addressed to
staff members, said LIAT has been challenged
as a consequence of the coronavirus
pandemic and that the “financial
state of the company has been reviewed
and LIAT is unable to pay its debt.”
He said LIAT was having problems
since 2017, when the hurricanes that
year put the airline “in a tailspin and
into 2018.”
In his June 29 letter to staff, Gonsalves
said the major shareholders have
made every effort to support the airline,
however, with the current pandemic
affecting all sectors of national economies,
the major shareholders are unable
to give LIAT needed support.
Trinidad
Trinidad-owned Caribbean Airlines
Limited (CAL) has started services to
the Eastern Caribbean.
CAL said in a statement
the service will
operate from Barbados
and the flights will
initially operate between Barbados to
St Vincent and the Grenadines and
Grenada with other destinations to be
added once the regulatory approvals are
received.
Dominica’s Prime Minister, Roosevelt
Skerrit recently announced that
his administration had given the green
light for CAL to fly into Dominica.
CAL said the route expansion into
the Eastern Caribbean is part of its
“current strategic plan” and that earlier
this year it had acquired additional aircraft
and resources including pilots and
cabin crew to support this initiative.
The move by CAL comes as shareholder
governments of the regional
airline, LIAT, moved towards the liquidation
of the Antigua-based regional
airline.
— Compiled by Azad Ali
Continued from Page 4
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As a mentor in CUNY’s College
Bridge for All program, Sebastián Sepúlveda
is focused on helping high school
graduates navigate the tricky transition
to college and escape the so-called “summer
melt,” a phenomenon in which all
too many prospective students succumb
to uncertainty in the restless months after
high school graduation and abandon
their college dreams.
Sepúlveda, who is about to begin his
junior year at Lehman College, is part of
a critical group of CUNY students who
are supporting thousands of graduating
seniors from city public high schools
as they navigate pre-college paperwork
and financial planning, activities that
can easily trip up incoming freshmen
during the long summer break, particularly
this year.
“These are very difficult times for
everyone,” says Sepúlveda, a first-generation
college student who immigrated
from Colombia six years ago and says
the scope of his responsibilities has
grown because of COVID-19. “This is
about helping the community to make
sure that no one is left behind.”
Even in the best of times, the transitional
period can be a precarious stretch.
Studies show that as many as 40 percent
of low-income students accepted to college
can experience a “summer melt”
that prevents them from matriculating
in the fall. In the face of the pandemic-interrupted
spring, when graduates were
isolated from teachers and advisers, that
percentage could be even greater this
coming fall.
That’s why CUNY is proud to offer
College Bridge for All as an essential
service to increase access to postsecondary
education for high school
graduates. Thanks to an $877,000 grant
from Bloomberg Philanthropies and a
$250,000 grant from The Carroll and Milton
Petrie Foundation, the program is
poised to reach graduating seniors from
every New York City public high school
this year, a significant achievement that
has magnified CUNY’s ability to help
New York and its colleges rebound from
the pandemic.
Employing a near-peer approach,
CUNY student coaches share their own
experiences with graduating seniors to
convey the importance of continuing
to college. It’s the equivalent of having
access to a guidance counselor, a big
brother or sister and a college adviser,
all rolled into one.
Launched in 2016 in collaboration between
CUNY and the New York City Department
of Education (DOE), the program
also serves as a source of summer
employment, this year paying 176 CUNY
students and additional coaches from
partnering community-based organizations
to help thousands of recent high
school grads. All told, their efforts will
support the entire Class of 2020, about
55,000 recent high school grads.
The benefits to incoming students
have been clear. In 2017, participating
students enrolled in college at a rate 11
percent higher than the DOE average,
an impact that was driven by increased
college enrollment for students identified
as low income, Latinx and/or Spanish
speaking.
CUNY is now combating summer
melt on multiple fronts. We recently received
a $175,000 grant from the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation to pilot a new
summer bridge and persistence peer
mentoring program that mirrors the
goals of College Bridge for All.
College Bridge for All coach Cindy
Velíz, a junior at City Tech, describes
panicked texts from students who are
confused about paperwork and other
procedural hurdles, many of them
soon-to-be first-generation college students
who lack a support system to get
answers. Velíz walks them through the
process, easing their anxieties.
“I tell them stories about my own
experiences to make them feel comfortable,”
said Velíz, herself a first-gen college
student. “We talk about what they
may want to major in, their college
schedule, the kind of career they want to
pursue. ... We bond over our shared experiences,
and I feel like they’re more prepared
and excited to go to college after
our talks. It makes me feel good to know
that I’m making a difference.”
Recent graduates of city public high
schools who are looking to connect with
a Bridge coach can visit here.
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