HILARY HOSIA
It pays to be smart. The 75 recipients of the Republic of China/Taiwan-RMI Presidents’ Scholarship honored at the Marshall Islands Resort last Friday thought so too.
The Melele Room at MIR last week was full of proud students and parents who couldn’t hide how happy they were when they heard the name of their sons and daughters read from the podium for being, well, smart.
To be eligible for the monetary scholarship, one must surpass his or her peers on the Marshall Islands Standard Achievement Test (MISAT).
In recent years, ROC/Taiwan has been providing scholarships to students who topped the MISAT based off tests conducted by the Public School System throughout all schools in the RMI.
PSS selects top scorers from grades three, six and eight in the elementary level and grades 10 and 12 in high school, which are tested by the MISAT.
PSS also considers the top students from two of the colleges in Majuro — University of South Pacific and College of Marshall Islands.
In addition, in-service teachers at CMI and USP are given the opportunity for scholarships.
Overall, 40 students were awarded in the elementary category, 20 in the high school category and five each from the two colleges, in addition to the five in-service teachers.
Majuro Cooperative School dominated in the grade three division while Delap Elementary School received most in grade six. In eight grade, Aur Elementary ties with Majuro Middle School for most recipients.
In the high school category, eight out of the 10 recipients in grade 10 are students from Majuro Cooperative School.
Marshall Islands High School in Majuro tops the grade 12 category.
The only recipient from Ebeye is Randon John from Jabro Private School. Randon is a senior at the school.
The top five students from USP received scholarships: Samuel Barton, Faith Mackphie, Jana Jello, Custin Maludrik and Trevor Kabua.
Top five from CMI received support: Ressmer Tallur, Cindy Huang, Phone B. Live, Willia Bejiko Erra and Lolani Robert.
In-service teachers who received the award: Jorlang Bantol, Romak Ronnie, Abner Leesie, Edward Jeremy and Demetria Malachi.