South East St Catherine Member of Parliament Colin Fagan was full of praise for the top GSAT students in his constituency, when he fêted them during a luncheon at Ken's Wildflower Middle Eastern Restaurant at Bayside Plaza recently.

The eight students were drawn from Waterford, Bridgeport, Southborough and Portsmouth primary schools.

Fagan told the students that he was proud of their achievements, and they have much thanks to give to their teachers and parents, who have worked hard to see to their success thus far. "As students, you have demonstrated that hard work, dedication and a will to succeed will always pay off," Fagan said.

Scholarships were offered to the students - whose back-to-school fees, from a low of $32,000 to a high of $54,000 were paid in full - varied, but also included the purchase of books and payment of development funds.

In handing out the awards, MP Fagan warned: "Your school performance going forward will have to be monitored and from time to time I will want to see your reports, as at any time the Social Development Commission (SDC), the agency with responsibility for the implementation of the education programme concerning the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), can ask for an audit."

He urged them to stay focused and continue to excel, as there is always reward for hard work. The students awarded will attend Ardenne, Wolmer's, St Jago and Kingston College.

Fagan pointed out that each year a good percentage of his CDF allocation goes towards education. "This year, over $3 million have been spent through book vouchers, payments of tuition fees at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, benefiting over 3,000 students," Fagan said as he addressed the luncheon.

Janelle Davy, a former student at Southborough Primary who now attends Wolmer's Girls' School, gave a motivational speech to the students.

Councillor Horace Brown, SDC officer Leo Gayle, Camile Bolton, assistant to the MP constituency secretary, Primrose Scott and parents of the awarded students all shared in the special occasion.