KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Universal Service Fund [USF] will be handing over $20 million to the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Jamaica [PBCJ] on Friday, December 17, at the PBCJ’s Odeon Avenue, Kingston 10 offices in a ceremony set to begin at 11:00 am.

The USF said the funding is to support the creation of a second educational channel dedicated to delivering educational programming to Jamaicans on a 24/7 basis.

Speakers at the event will include Prime Minister Andrew Holness, Technology Minister Daryl Vaz, Education Minister Fayval Williams and Chairman of the USF, Justin Morin.

The USF said the handing over of the money is in keeping with the government’s thrust of pursuing the establishment of a system of national communication that is aimed at contributing “significantly to the continued education of our people at all levels of society”.

It said that in this regard, the PBCJ is determined to provide a dedicated channel that will bring educational information, both live and pre-recorded to the Jamaican public, 24 hours per day.

“This will be the first enterprise of this kind in Jamaica, allowing students to access information both live as it happens as well as scheduled programmes and on-demand information via the PBCJ’s online platform,” said a statement from the USF.

The PBCJ project also forms part of the arrangement for the national broadband initiative to ensure that access to educational content is available on and offline, especially given the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted.

To this end, the USF is supporting this initiative by providing funding support of $20 million for the establishment of the station.