General Accident Insurance Company Limited, a member of the Musson Group, has signed a sponsorship agreement valued at J$1 million with Next Move Jamaica Limited.

The scholarship is set up to facilitate the publication and distribution of Jamaica’s first annual National Scholarship Digest — The General Accident National Scholarship Digest (NSD).

General Accident has also donated two scholarships – valued at J$70,000 each — in memory and honour of the founder and former chairman of the Musson Group, Desmond Blades.

The agreement, which was signed on Wednesday, February 29, 2012, will facilitate the publication of the General Accident National Scholarship Digest on April 30, 2012; the distribution of the Digest to 142 secondary and tertiary institutions from April to September 2012; and the awarding of the inaugural General Accident Open Scholarships to Kayla Belnavis and Cory Anderson, who are both enrolled at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus.

President and Chief Executive Officer of Next Move Jamaica, Christopher A Grant, said limited copies of the go-to scholarship resource for students, teachers and parents will be donated to the selected institutions, while copies will be on sale at selected book stores around the island and via Next Move’s website: www.nextmoveja.com.

He said the Digest would be offering a comprehensive listing of scholarships categorised under: undergraduate and graduate study; certain fields and disciplines including, among others, law, medicine, mass communication and engineering, as well as tertiary institutions located in Jamaica and other countries as far away as China and Australia.

Additionally, the General Accident National Scholarship Digest will provide a guide for students to understand the application process; how to navigate over 4,200 different scholarships valued in excess of J$9.7 billion; and access to information on honing interview skills, as well as where, how and when to apply for scholarships.

Sharon Donaldson, managing director of General Accident Insurance Company, said she was delighted to sign the agreement and sponsorship offer in support of the Digest, not only because of the opportunities it will afford students, parents and Jamaicans generally, but because General Accident recognises that affordable education financing is a major component for increasing the local literacy level. She said the General Accident National Scholarship Digest should serve this purpose well.

“We realise that although success may sometimes be measured in dollars and cents, the real measure of success lies in how much we are able, as a corporate entity, to ‘give back’ to our community and society at large. As such General Accident Insurance Company, in association with Next Move Jamaica, is presenting Jamaica’s first National Scholarship Digest.”

Melanie Subratie, Vice-chairman of the Musson Group — parent company of General Accident — and granddaughter of the Group’s founder Desmond Blades, said the Digest was an exciting project and the inaugural General Accident Open Scholarships was being donated in memory and honour her grandfather.

“This is the first of many emerging educational initiatives that we will be launching in memory of Desmond Blades as the Musson Group aims to significantly contribute to education and youth empowerment in Jamaica in continuation of my grandfather’s mission,” she continued.