The Ministry of Telecommunications and E-Commerce awarded two Bermudian students full scholarships for an online Master's degree course yesterday.

Khari Sharrieff and Belinda Clark will both be pursuing their Master of Business Administration Degrees with Schiller International University (SIU) .

Minister of Telecommunications and E-Commerce Renee Webb presented the scholarships to the awardees yesterday at the Senate during a press conference.

Both students, who were chosen by SIU and approved by the Ministry, are currently employed and will finish the programme in between two and three years.

Mr. Sharrieff is a senior data technician at the Bermuda Telephone Company in their Network Services division. He said that his MBA will be beneficial to both himself and his job.

"In my division of data technicians, not many of us have obtained our Masters," he said.

An attorney at Conyers, Dill, and Pearman, Ms Clark said the scholarship will definitely be important "within and outside of the legal arena".

She noted: "If we want to have a highly skilled Bermuda we have to take part in programmes like this."

An anxious Ms Webb said: "I am delighted today to be able to present these two scholarships today to Belinda and Khari. These are the second set of scholarships we have awarded for the online MBA programme offered by SIU.

"My Ministry is keen to promote online learning in Bermuda as it has enormous potential for all Bermudians, both young and old. I hope we can expand our cooperation with Schiller to the undergraduate level as well, perhaps in collaboration with the Bermuda College."

The scholarship is funded equally by the Ministry and SIU. They also provide the recipients with $500 for books.

Ms Webb said online universities like SIU allow Bermudian students who cannot leave the Island for whatever reason a chance to receive their graduate degrees.

She said there will be two other scholarships made available for those qualified during the Fall and Winter semesters. "Don't give up on trying, let us know well ahead if you are interested. It's time for Bermudians to get on board," Ms Webb said.