MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica— Students from seven primary schools in Southern Trelawny have benefited from a donation of 40 tablets by Prime Minister Andrew Holness, through his Positive Jamaica Foundation.

The beneficiaries attend Stewart Town Primary, Clark’s Town Primary, Kinloss Primary, First Hill All-Age, Brampton Primary, Sawyers Primary and Albert Town Primary. Clark’s Town Primary also received a printer.

Speaking at the handing over ceremony held at the Clark’s Town Primary school on July 2, Holness said that the devices will enable students to gain access to the various online learning platforms to meet their educational needs. 

He said that the donation adds to the number of devices already provided to students island-wide by Government, private sector and the Diaspora.

“Already, the Government has gone a very far way in giving tablets to our students,” he said, citing provisions made to students under the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) and ‘Own your Own Device,’ through which vouchers are provided to parents to purchase devices.

He said that the Diaspora is also providing “significant support.”

Holness noted that so far, over 1,000 devices have been donated to students through his foundation, and indicated that the thrust will continue to help bridge the digital divide in the country.

The prime minister said that the Government will also continue to act in “an instrumental way in ensuring that these devices are provided widely throughout the country and to our children.”

He noted that technology will remain a permanent fixture of the education system and no child should be left behind by virtue of their socio-economic background.

Holness urged the students to use the devices to expand their knowledge base.

For her part, Director of Region 3 in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Karlene Segre, expressed gratitude to the prime minister for “his act of kindness” noting that the devices will enable more students to access online learning.

“I am aware that many of them have been waiting for a tablet and their parents could not afford it, but the tablets have arrived just in time for our summer school programme,” she said.

Brampton Primary student Alecia Brown, who spoke on behalf of the recipients, thanked the prime minister for the devices, and assured that the students “will make good use of them.”