The JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation this year invested $1.25M into youth summer programmes to assist hundreds of students to recover from learning loss caused by disruption in their academic programmes as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic and support youth development activities for mainly at-risk youth.

In an open letter to the Government, UNICEF estimates that Jamaica’s children have lost an estimated 1.3 billion in-class hours over 19 months of physical school closures. The learning loss is staggering, and the most vulnerable children who struggle to access remote (online) education have been hit the hardest, stated UNICEF.

Kim Mair, CEO of the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation outlined, “It is against the background of the educational fallout being faced by our children that the foundation is happy to come on board to support these necessary interventions. In particular, we are also pleased to fund two schools in rural Jamaica — Point Hill Primary and Junior High and Friendship Primary — as we recognise that our rural schools are unfortunately most affected by the digital and economic divide, which can prevent these children from truly recognising and tapping into their greatness and achieving the academic success.”

She added that this effort supports the national plan of the Government, through its ‘Recover Smarter-National School Learning and Intervention Plan’ running from July 5 to August 19, which is aimed at helping students recover from learning loss due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The foundation also provided resources for several summer initiatives geared towards at-risk children and youth development programmes.

Raquel Virtue, development manager at the Foundation, shared, “We recognise that with extended lockdowns and a hiatus of several summer programmes in the last two years, the need for resocialisation and youth development is important to help children to re-engage with their peers and participate in developmental activities that will cater to their psychosocial needs, through their involvement in arts, sports and other leisure activities. Our aim is to cater to the ‘whole person’ and ensure that we support initiatives that will allow children to fuel their passion, explore their creativity and just have fun, especially with restrictions on these activities for an extended period.”

Social worker and founder of the August Town Sports & Community Development Foundation, Kenneth Wilson, offered: “We couldn’t do this without the continuous support of JMMB [Joan Duncan Foundation] and we welcome even more support to assist throughout the year, [because] we want to strengthen the value system of these children and give them more life skills, so that they can have an alternative to joining gangs or being influenced in the wrong way.”

Summer programme beneficiaries include: 4Milla Academy, Port Royal Marine Lab Summer Camp, August Town Sports & Community Development Foundation, Office of the Children’s Advocate, Maxfield Park Children’s Home, The Angelic Ladies Society, Trench Town community, Greenfields Environmental Camp, WWKIDS Summer Fun Reading Programme and Child Protection & Family Services Agency.