READ Across Jamaica Day 2025 took on added significance for the students and staff at the Mayfield Primary and Infant School in Southfield, St Elizabeth, on Tuesday, with a ground-breaking ceremony for a new reading garden at the school.

The literacy project got a jump-start from Access Financial Services (AFS) which donated $250,000 towards the build-out.

School Principal Loren Newbold-Gayle said the project, which has been in the works for some time, will benefit all grade levels across the primary and infant departments.

“We’ve been on an intense drive for the last three years to raise reading levels and improve literacy. It’s a major priority for us, and we’ve embarked on a number of initiatives to move the dial. In the process, we recognised that we had to get creative in order to get the students really interested in reading, and we believe that the reading garden will help us to do that.

“We want the students to understand that teaching and learning isn’t reserved for inside a classroom, and we believe that taking them into a welcoming space outdoors will also help us promote a love for the environment. So the reading garden is achieving multiple goals,” said Newbold-Gayle.

She noted that the school recently received 12 tablets from e-Learning Jamaica, and the administration’s approach is to fuse traditional methods of instruction with new technology.

“Plans for the reading garden include a miniature library where the wider school community can come and experience the joys of reading, whether the material is in a book or on a device. Our goal is to improve our overall literacy levels by 15 per cent in keeping with our three-year school improvement plan,” added Newbold-Gayle.

The push towards creating spaces that encourage reading comes on the heels of recently announced plans by the Ministry of Education, Youth, Skills and Information to set a minimum of two hours of timetabled reading each week.

“Scheduled reading is essential. Math is there and that needs to be improved, but literacy is critical in helping to improve overall student outcomes. We have to empower students in this regard, and this kind of focus will help students better prepare for the next levels of their education, right through high school and beyond.

“This is at the heart of the national literacy programme designed to improve student outcomes. We want to thank Access Financial Services for their support, which has helped to put Mayfield Primary ahead of the curve. Without support from all stakeholders, we won’t achieve our national education goals. So we’re hoping that more companies like Access will follow suit and come on board,” said Region 5 Community Relations Education Officer Anieta Bailey.

The donation by AFS is the latest demonstration of support by the micro-lender, which began a relationship with the school in 2022.

“We are thrilled to be able to continue our support here at Mayfield Primary. We’ve done a couple of projects over the last few years, and we’ve seen the impact. Access Financial has a very wide customer base in St Elizabeth, and we’re very deliberate about ensuring that we make meaningful contributions in this parish, and nothing could be more important than supporting the education of our children,” said AFS Chief Executive Officer Hugh Campbell.

The school, which serves just over 300 students, took a major hit from Hurricane Beryl last year. Work on the reading garden is expected to be completed by the end of the month, with much of the job scheduled for Labour Day.

The dedicated reading space will incorporate concrete benches, an actual garden area, and a miniature library.