UB–KAUST–Partanna AI Micro-Course Sends Five Bahamian Students on Fully-Funded Saudi AI Scholarships

In April-May 2024, the University of The Bahamas (UB) partnered with Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Bahamian-founded materials company Partanna to deliver a 10-day artificial-intelligence micro-course to Bahamian university students, taught by KAUST faculty.
The five top-performing students — Nikita Denise Johnson, Matthew Braynen, Joshua Curry, Jeff Joseph and Kenneth Rolle — received fully-funded scholarships covering tuition, housing, meals and flights to continue AI studies at KAUST in Saudi Arabia during July-August 2024. The programme was sponsored by former NBA player and Partanna co-founder Rick Fox and publicly endorsed by Bahamian Prime Minister Philip Davis at the graduation ceremony.
Public reporting documents this as a single pilot cohort; no information is available on whether the course has been repeated or scaled to further cohorts, and there is no independent measurement of learning outcomes beyond course completion and scholarship selection itself.

Read the full analysis: https://www.tribune242.com/news/2024/may/23/five-students-receive-ai-technology-scholarship-ka/