Waiting for Mom to come home to borrow her phone, struggling with an old malfunctioning laptop or relying on written notes from a teacher are concerns of the past for 82 students of the Mico Practising Primary and Junior High School.
The school is the beneficiary of a gift of 82 tablets from Citi Jamaica in support of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s ‘One Laptop or One Tablet Per Child’ project, supported by the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica’s ‘Connect a Child Initiative’.
Making the presentation at the school on March 12, Eva Lewis, country head for Citi, said: “We have been hearing of the challenges being faced by students all over Jamaica in accessing on-line classes during the COVID-19 pandemic and we are especially pleased to assist this school which is playing such a critical role in both educating children and perfecting the skills of the nation’s teachers.”
“We have seen first-hand, the dedication of the principal and teachers at Mico Practising and we’re very impressed by the discipline and the eagerness of the young men to learn.”
Eva Lewis, country head for Citi (Jamaica)
Lewis, who is a past chair of the Women’s Leadership Initiative (WLI), said the organisation has since 2018 hosted ‘Conversations With Boys’ which gives grade-six students of Mico a forum to help with “socialising” young boys and giving them a forum to discuss matters of concern to them, including respect for women and girls, cyber bullying, empathy for other students, peer pressure and the pitfalls of drug and alcohol abuse.
“We have seen first-hand, the dedication of the principal and teachers at Mico Practising and we’re very impressed by the discipline and the eagerness of the young men to learn. You are serious about education and Citi is serious about helping to mould Jamaica’s future leaders,” she declared.
Geraldine Allen, principal at the school, thanked Citi for the “timely and welcome gift of tablets”.
She said: “Of 1,075 students at the school, approximately 700 students have been accessing on-line classes fairly consistently. The school bought its own domain to improve access to our students and 82 more of them having their own device, will definitely be a major boost.”
Allen explained that “to ensure continuity, the tablets will be part of a revolving programme, starting with grades five and six, and students will be required to return them on graduation from the school”.
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