Students who will be sitting the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Electrical and Electronic Technology examination in June will have the cost covered by the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) Foundation.

The foundation will pay more than $1.36 million to the Overseas Examinations Commission (OEC), which administers CSEC in Jamaica, on behalf of 426 students from 30 schools across the island.

The JPS Foundation CSEC Electrical and Electronic Technology Exam Fee Sponsorship Initiative was formally launched at St George’s College in downtown Kingston on Tuesday. St George’s College is one of the beneficiary institutions.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalise the arrangement was signed by Education, Youth and Information Minister Ruel Reid, OEC Deputy Director Sharon Burnett, and JPS President and Chief Executive Officer Kelly Tomblin, who also made a symbolic cheque presentation to the examination body.

Minister Reid described it as the “finest example of corporate social responsibility”.

He said it reinforces the importance of partnerships in addressing some of the more urgent needs in Jamaica, particularly in education, and indicated that the programme’s objectives are in “perfect alignment” with the ministry’s policies, programmes and priorities.

“I welcome the JPS Foundation’s commitment… [and] congratulate [the beneficiaries] for the diligence with which you have applied yourselves. It’s a great opportunity and I wish you well as you pursue your dreams,” Reid said.

The JPS Foundation initiative seeks to support the national mandate to ensure that each student leaves secondary school with skill-based knowledge and certification. It will serve to increase the number of students exiting the system with a practical subject by at least 1,000 each year.

To qualify for support, schools must have attained an average pass rate of 60 per cent or more over the past two academic years and a candidate entry rate of 90 per cent or more. Schools that fall below the 60 per cent average, by 10 per cent or less, will be assisted with curriculum enrichment through qualified JPS Foundation volunteers, among other interventions.

New-entry schools (institutions entering the exams for the first or second time) must have an overall CSEC average sit rate of 90 per cent over the past two years until they have accumulated two years of data on electrical and electronic technology, and students sitting exams should have an average of 60 per cent or higher and must be full-time enrollees.

Only public/government-aided high schools and private high schools in which the Government has placed students will be considered.

Tomblin, in noting JPS’s long history of support to Jamaica’s education sector, said the company is proud to assist in an area deemed pivotal to national development.

“I am really happy that JPS can contribute to providing the opportunities that willspur many children to really contribute to Jamaica,” she said.