MONTEGO BAY, St James — Member of Parliament for East Central St James Edmund Bartlett says he will be allocating $10 million over the next two years under the East Central St James education and welfare council to finance education programmes at the 14 primary schools in the constituency.

"It's not just for the start of this financial year, but it will take us into the 'Math Olympics' next year. It also represents the 10 years that I have been your member of Parliament," Bartlett announced.

He was speaking Thursday at John Rollins Success Primarys 'Math Olympics 2012', held in the school's auditorium in Rose Hall, St James.

He said the programme will involve the provision of five workbooks for grade six students and the two books required for numeracy and literacy at the grade four level.

"We concern ourselves with the total development of our children and every school in the constituency and every child must have access to each of those books required," he argued.

Bartlett noted that over the years, students in his constituency who excelled at the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) have been awarded scholarships.

"Last year we had many students achieving 80 per cent and over in GSAT, and those students have received scholarships, while students who achieved 90 per cent and over got cash awards along with their scholarships," he noted.

The 'Math Olympics' is the brainchild of the principal of John Rollins Success Primary, Yvonne Miller-Wisdom. Its aim is to motivate students to strive for excellence in the field of mathematics.