Kiwanis donates playground equipment to basic schools

Western Bureau:

Nine basic schools in the county of Cornwall recently benefited from the generosity of Kiwanis Club Division 25 (Cornwall), which provided them with playground equipment. This initiative was part of the organisation’s drive to provide 13 basic schools across the region with the much-needed equipment.

Late last week, two St Elizabeth-based basic schools, the Santa Cruz Early Childhood Institution and the Young Achievers Pre-School of the Women’s Centre in Junction, joined early childhood institutions in St James, Hanover, and Trelawny as beneficiaries in the project dubbed ‘The Playground Effect’.

Lieutenant Governor for the Kiwanis Division 25 (Cornwall) Glenda Miller said that the aim of the project is to provide playground equipment to basic schools that are in need of them.

“The Playground Effect project is to improve the quality of some 13 identified play areas in early childhood institutions in that division by providing safe and appropriate equipment and supplies in keeping with the Early Childhood Commission’s operational standards,” said Miller. “The project also entails the staging of parental seminars within all the schools that stand to benefit through its assistance.”

Approximately 1,000 children below the age of five have so far benefited from the project through programmes designed to develop their cognitive and motor skills as a result of the play equipment that has been provided at their schools.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT

The project also forms part of the Kiwanis Division 25 effort to assist Jamaica in achieving its vision 2030 goals, which involves improving the lives of the vulnerable in the society, Miller told The Gleaner.

Leon Clarke, the principal of the Santa Cruz Early Childhood Institution, who helped to install the equipment, expressed gratitude for the gift from the Kiwanians.

“It will help in the overall development of the children. The equipment is necessary for the school as it is in tandem with Standard Five as prescribed by the Early Childhood Commission,” said Clarke. “These equipment installed will be utilised by our students in many ways. It will help to develop their gross motor skills and keep them physically fit.”

The schools that have benefited to date are Hague Infant School in Trelawny, Providence Heights Infant School, Rose Hall Basic, Hill Top Basic, and Anchovy Basic, all in St James; Hopewell Basic and Axe’n’Adge Basic in Hanover; St Elizabeth Early Childhood Institution and the Junction Women Centre in St Elizabeth.