MALVERN, St Elizabeth — Principal of Hampton School Mahvell Charlton-Brown is heaping praise on the girls’ school’s past students for their consistent support which has helped the school maintain high standards, even during the current crisis brought on by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Jamaican schools, for the most part, have been forced to replace face-to-face classes with online teaching and learning as a result of the novel coronavirus, which first made its presence felt in Jamaica in March of 2020. Since then the virus has claimed close to 800 lives in Jamaica. More than 46,000 people are on record as having contracted COVID-19.

“The continued success of Hampton School is intricately connected to the un-ebbing support and commitment of the Hampton Old Girls’ Association (HOGA),” Charlton-Brown told the Jamaica Observer by WhatsApp text message yesterday.

According to Charlton-Brown, help from the old girls’ association has come in the form of scholarships and bursaries as well as electronic tablet donations.

The principal said that over the last academic year HOGA had awarded more than $3.5 million in bursary and scholarships, with 80 students getting sums ranging from $25,000 to $100,000.

Since online education has come to the fore, HOGA has also been making a special effort to provide tablets for students perceived to be most in need of help.

Last June, the association, through a special initiative tagged ‘Project Renaissance’, donated 15 tablets to “needy students”. These were distributed in collaboration with the Parents Teachers’ Associastion (PTA) executive, the Hampton School principal said.

In October 2020, another 25 tablets were delivered and in January 2021, a team led by local president of HOGA, Judith Montague, presented 62 tablets to Hampton, Charlton-Brown said.

“The administration and staff of Hampton School are grateful for HOGA’s sustained support in the form of bursaries and scholarships as well as the tablets … Through the department of guidance and counselling, the school has seen to the distribution of these devices to those of our students who are most in need,” she said.

A news release from HOGA, following the donation in January, said the tablets will “significantly assist the ladies who have been experiencing challenges accessing virtual classes on the relevant platforms”.

— Garfield Myers