JN makes $1.5-m investment in literacy
THE Jamaica National Building Society Foundation has pumped $1.5 million into its Jamaica Partnership for Education (JPE) initiative, as part of efforts to boost literacy among local students.
The funds have gone into training, the purchase of mobile enrichment carts and literacy software.
“We decided under the JPE initiative to assist the Ministry of Education in eradicating illiteracy in schools by 2015. So last Wednesday, we gave eight schools these educational resources with the hope of improving the literacy standards of the students,” JPE project manager Anna Toby told Career & Education.
JPE is a remittance-philanthropy initiative of JN Foundation, launched in May 2009. It targets donations from Jamaicans based overseas — donations which are then invested into the education system through the foundation’s guidance.
Last week’s beneficiaries of mobile enrichment carts were:
* Chester Castle All-Age in Hanover and Harewood Primary School in St Catherine;
* Mearnsville All-Age in Westmoreland and Osborne Store Primary & Junior High School in Clarendon; and
* Troja Primary & Junior High in St Catherine and Strawberry Primary & Junior High in Westmoreland.
Albion Primary & Junior High and Glendevon Primary & Junior High, both in St James, were special recipients of Auto Skills software. They were given the literacy and numeracy software, instead of a mobile enrichment cart, because they have fully operational computer labs that qualified them for the software.
Other partners in the project are NEM Insurance Company Limited and JN Money Services Limited whose financial contribution afforded Parry Town Primary in St Ann a laptop and multimedia projector.
The official handing-over ceremony of the equipment was held at the Osborne Store Primary and Junior High School last Wednesday. Following the handover, Coldax Mart Limited — suppliers of the mobile enrichment carts — hosted a two-hour sensitisation session for the educators present. This, while members of the Jamaica National Building Society Group engaged in reading sessions with students.
