THE Kiwanis Club of Montego Bay launched the local arm of Kiwanis International’s Bring Up Grades (BUG) programme at the Catherine Hall Primary School in Montego Bay on Monday.

This programme is a worldwide initiative by Kiwanis International, which is aimed at getting under-performing students in some primary schools to improve their grades in the core subjects of mathematics, English language, social studies and communication tasks.

The programme is designed to provide recognition to students who raise their grades to an acceptable range and maintain or continue to raise them from one grading period to the next.

Recognition includes being placed on the school’s BUG Honour Roll, and presentation of certificates and buttons to these students.

Speaking at the launch of the programme, President of the Kiwanis Club of Montego Bay Floyd Lewis said members of the club have committed to work with the selected students in helping them to attain goals which have been set by the schools, but most importantly, the students.

“I believe that we should show our children that we believe in them. Through this programme, students will be allowed to set goals and be mentored through the process of achieving them,” he said.

Lewis outlined the main focus of the BUG programme to include teaching students how to establish and reach their academic goals, perseverance, encouraging peer mentoring, providing teachers with methods to empower and motivate students to achieve academically, and giving a form of recognition to all students in the participating classroom by the end of the school year.

In welcoming the BUG programme, Principal Dudley Jennings said members of the academic staff are committed to working with the Kiwanis Club of Montego Bay and the students in ensuring that there are major improvements in the grades of the participants.

“We are fully supportive of the BUG programme, which is a novel idea that will help participating students in literally bringing up their grades. The students have potential and we are confident that we will see the result of this programme in the future. Members of my academic staff are also in support of the initiative and we are all looking forward to partnering with the Kiwanis Club of Montego Bay,” he said.

The 49-year-old Kiwanis Club of Montego Bay is the main sponsor of the BUG programme at the school.