FIFTY grade four students at St Alban’s Primary School were recently provided with well-needed resources to aid in the development of their literacy skills. The recipients — all boys who were selected on a needs basis — were each presented with literacy skills textbooks to assist with their preparation for the Grade Four Literacy Test courtesy of the Norman and Cecile Jarrett Literacy Improvement Programme (LIP), as well as support from the Jamaica National Building Society Foundation.

“This programme is for primary schools within the downtown region. This was a concerted decision, as often these children miss a lot of opportunities and are generally at risk because of the lack of resources,” said Cecile Jarrett, co-founder of the LIP initiative.

She explained that another component of LIP is the competitive phase, which involves the staging of a reading competition among grade three to grade six students, with 12 winners emerging from the respective grades.

“Once a school is chosen as a beneficiary of textbooks, we arrange a reading competition among the students. Therefore, starting in April, we will begin a reading competition at St Alban’s Primary, and the finals will be held in May. As an incentive, an awards ceremony is held for the winners and the student with the highest points will select the next school to become a beneficiary.”

Rose Miller, grants manager at the JN Foundation, said the assistance provided by the organisation to fund the purchasing of the textbooks and the overall programme is in keeping with the foundation’s commitment to contribute to the education of children.

She said the foundation was on a drive to promote financial literacy among parents, teaching and encouraging them to spend wisely; as well as to place priority on their children’s education.

“We emphasise to parents through these financial literacy talks that it is not how much money they have, but how well they manage their funds to serve their best interests,” she said.

Schools which have already benefited are Holy Family Primary and Infant, Chetolah Park Primary and Denham Town Primary.

The Norman and Cecile Jarrett Literacy Improvement Programme was founded by the husband and wife duo of Norman and Cecile Jarrett. Mrs Jarrett continues to work in the capacity of principal at St John The Baptist Prep School.