Schools and students across the island will benefit from grants valued at a total of J$12 million through manufacturing and distribution giants Wisynco Group’s ‘Hydrate to Educate with WATA’ give-back programme.

The 2023 iteration of the initiative will see 42 secondary school students, three per parish, each receive a cash grant of J$175,000. Fourteen schools, one from each parish, will also each receive technical assistance valued at J$300,000.

Funds for this programme will come from the sale of commemorative 600ml bottles of WATA, identifiable by their yellow labels.  The limited edition labels pay tribute to Jamaica’s achievements in sports with spotlight on the contribution of women. Also featured on the labels is the WATA give back pledge, committing a portion of the sale of each bottle to education.

“Jamaicans prioritise education. We want to see schools functioning well, and our children thriving.  Through the ‘Hydrate to Educate with WATA’ campaign, our customers are helping schools acquire technical support while also removing some of the cost barriers students and their families face with funding education,” said Francois Chalifour, marketing and development director at Wisynco.

Students can be nominated at wataeducate.wisynco.com up to midnight, October 20.  After this, the nominations will be reviewed and three students per parish selected for a cash grant. From among the institutions in which the successful 42 nominees are enrolled, 14 schools will be selected for the sporting equipment grant.

Anyone can nominate a student or students can also self-nominate.

In another extension of its support to youth, sports and education Wisynco, in partnership with the Jamaica Football Federation (JFF), is contributing to two scholarships valued at J$300,000 each. This new initiative will see one boy and one girl player who have successfully transitioned from secondary school sports participation to the national programme, qualifying for this scholarship.

To mark Jamaica’s 60th independence, 120 students and 80 teachers received cash grants of J$60,000 each from the Education Wisynco give back fund in 2022.