(a) There is hereby established the Walter I.M. Hodge Scholarships for Political Science and Agricultural Sciences which scholarships shall be administered by the Virgin Islands Board of Education, for the purpose of providing scholarship grants to students pursuing undergraduate or graduate degrees in political science, agricultural sciences, animal husbandry, and veterinary science.
(b) The Board shall adopt rules and regulations governing applications for and granting of the scholarships and of annual renewals of said scholarship grants, the purpose of which shall be the establishment of minimum performance standards upon which the scholarship grant shall be initially awarded and thereafter renewed.
(c) Scholarship grants under this section may be of varied character according to the needs of the grantee and his educational program, provided that no grant shall exceed the annual sum of $5,000 and that no grant shall be renewed for more than three additional years. The amount of scholarship renewals to the same individual may be increased or decreased as the Board deems necessary and appropriate.
(d) Scholarship grants shall be granted pursuant to this section to applicants who are high school graduates and bona fide residents of the Virgin Islands at the time of application notwithstanding that they might have been living outside of the Virgin Islands temporarily while pursuing a course of secondary study or while serving in the armed forces of the United States.
(e) Any person granted a scholarship under the provisions of this section shall be required as a prior condition to such grant to execute a proper contract to the effect that he will accept employment by the Government of the United States Virgin Islands for as many years or portion thereof as the person shall have pursued education and training under such scholarship.