For some time, the staff and students at Noel’s Childhood Institution at East Anderson Crescent, Kingston 11 endured a miserable existence.

Huge reels used to transport telephone cables served as students’ desks; the kitchen was in need of desperate attention and contained a rotting freezer that barely served its purpose; students had to wait for other students to finish having lunch before they could access plates and cups; and the school, generally, needed a facelift.

Sagicor Life, having heard about the pitiful conditions at the school, sent representatives there on Teachers’ Day, and after seeing the dire need, included the institution in its Adopt-a-School Programme.

Today, Noel’s Childhood Institution boasts a fresh coat of paint, and on Monday, September 7, at the start of the new academic year, a team from Sagicor Life handed over seven new desks, 42 chairs, a much-needed freezer, new cups and plates, 300 Sagicor notebooks, pencils, storybooks and crayons to the school.

“The Sagicor Life Jamaica stakeholders are staunch supporters of education as a tool of national development,” said Sagicor president and CEO Richard Byles. “As such, the company maintains an excellent education support programme executed with various partners and through several mediums.”

Under the Adopt-a-School Programme, themed ‘Spending Time, Shaping Lives’, each of the 13 branches of the company has committed to adopting a registered early childhood facility. An evaluation of each facility’s needs is done and the requisite support provided through funding from the adopting branch, the company explained in a news release.

Sagicor also said it intends to present Noel’s Childhood Institution with two wall fans as “the classrooms are very hot which will not provide for a very conducive learning environment”.

Recently, Sagicor awarded scholarships valued at $75,000 each to 12 students who excelled in this year’s Grade Six Achievement Test.