MINISTER of state in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Floyd Green is encouraging more private sector entities to become actively involved in early childhood education.

“We want more companies and NGOs to adopt our institutions. Go in and find out what are their fundamental needs and help them to meet them,” he urged.

The state minister was speaking at the launch of the Sagicor Foundation 2016 Adopt-A-School Programme, held Tuesday at the Courtleigh Hotel and Suites, in New Kingston.

The programme aims to assist needy early childhood institutions with financial, infrastructural development, and other types of support.

Green commended Sagicor for its commitment to improving the early childhood education sector.

“I hope that this will help to foster a culture of service and giving back that we need in Jamaica. I am very happy that Sagicor Foundation has chosen to focus on early childhood institutions, because that is where it starts,” he said.

The state minister emphasised the need for infrastructural development of these institutions and appealed to corporate entities to get involved in improving the educational experience of the children.

“No government can completely fund the needs of our educational system and as such, we must depend on strong corporate support and individuals in general to strengthen our systems, to take an interest in education,” he urged.

This year, the programme will focus on 10 early childhood institutions. It is

anticipated that 1,000 students will be impacted by the programme.

The schools are Plantation Heights, Salmon, Kemps Hill, Sandy Park and Clarion Basic; Fyffes Pen and Dunrobin Early Childhood Institutions; Campden Early Childhood Development Centre; and Allman Town and Central Branch Infant Schools.

For his part, president and chief executive officer of Sagicor Group Jamaica, Richard Byles, said that each school participating in this year’s programme will receive a water tank. He added that the Sagicor health van will be visiting each school to conduct visual, hearing and blood sugar screenings of the children.

“This Adopt-A-School Programme is very important to us and we have had a lot of success with it in the past, and we want to make it even more successful in the future,” he said.

The first set of activities is slated to begin on Labour Day, May 23, with the Sagicor team participating in projects across the island.

The programme will also be launched in western Jamaica today at the Hilton Hotel and Spa, in St James.