SCHOOLS in Jamalco’s mining communities in Manchester and Clarendon are to receive some 30,000 textbooks under the company’s annual book-distribution programme.

The textbooks which are to be distributed were donated by a number of United States publishers and shipped to the island by Alcoa Foundation.

At the launch of the 2010 programme, held recently at the Halse Hall Great House in Clarendon, Jamalco’s managing director, Jerome Maxwell, informed that as part of the initiative, some 200 science kits will also be distributed. He said the programme should not be regarded as a donation, but as a partnership leading to the success of the students who will use the material.

He stated that Jamalco is committed to helping schools and that the book programme was just one aspect of its outreach activities.

Meanwhile, manager of corporate services and government affairs at Jamalco, Leo Lambert, pointed to several educational initiatives undertaken by the company in host communities. These include:

* a mentorship programme at Vere Technical High School that is being expanded to two other schools this year;

* a documentation skills programme;

* a road safety and schoolwarden project being implemented at six schools in Clarendon and Manchester; and

* an educational assistance programme.

Lambert noted that during the course of this year, the company’s employees will increase their participation in the Jamalco in Schools programme by acting as resource persons to the schools.

Literacy specialist attached to the ministry of education region five office, Collette Morris, commended Jamalco for the book-distribution initiative and urged the students to care for the books while urging the teachers to ensure that they are readily available for use by the students.

Each school in Jamalco’s host communities in Clarendon and Manchester will receive an assortment of books in addition to the science kits. The company is also working with the Ministry of Education’s regional offices in Clarendon and Manchester to ensure that the schools that have low levels of literacy receive books.

Jamalco has distributed some 560,000 texts under the book distribution programme over the last 29 years.

— JIS