The JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation has embarked on the donation of approximately 400 tablets to 32 primary schools islandwide to assist vulnerable students to fully participate in online learning.

The donation follows on the $10 million given by the foundation to support the ‘One Laptop or Tablet Per Child’ initiative, in response to the call made by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, for corporate companies and individuals, in Jamaica and in the diaspora to lend a hand to this initiative.

The foundation made its first stop recently at Clan Carthy Primary School to donate tablets to students at that school. Approximately 30 per cent of the 900 students at Clan Carthy have low to no participation in online learning, since the start of the school year, as a result of having no devices or limited connectivity.

In addition to providing devices, the foundation will provide each student recipient with a sim card and credit on a monthly basis to enable connectivity, in a bid to provide a holistic solution to address the digital divide among Jamaican children.

The ‘One Laptop or One Tablet’ project is spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information along with the Junior Achievement Jamaica and National Education Trust.

It is aimed at providing 100,000 students, who are not a part of the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education, with devices so that they can actively engage in online learning.