NEET fights crime with education

The Negril Education Environment Trust (NEET) aims to equip every child with a tablet to assist with their academic endeavours.

The Leadership Tablet Programme is an initiative created by NEET that helps students, ages nine to 14, learn the four pillars of success coined by the organisation's chairman, Winston Wellington. Different activities are done to encourage discipline, positive attitude, punctuality, and honesty. Classes are held each Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. over an eight-week period.

Zanue Gordon, a member of team NEET, said the programme caters to 50 students and parents, and a new batch is enrolled after each eight-week session is completed. Students are given one-on-one attention from teachers who volunteer with the organisation. Parents also get tips on how to assist with their child's personal and academic development through group or one-on-one sessions with counsellors. Once the eight-week programme has ended, the students are given a seven-inch Amazon tablet to assist with their academics.

The programme ends for the current batch of students on November 24, and another set will start in January. The Leadership Tablet Programme has been assisting students and parents alike for almost four years.

Students who are well-behaved and meet other criteria are chosen to go to Disney World on subsidised fees.

NEET is a non-profit organisation that fights crime through education. The programmes offered by the organisation inspire parents and children to be better versions of themselves in order to produce a more competitive, well-trained and fruitful workforce. The 15-year-old organisation comprises over 500 volunteers and has sponsors both locally and internationally. There is also the option of sponsoring a specific child who may be in need based on their circumstances.

Other programmes include a hospitality programme, an islandwide book and computer distribution programme, a computer-literacy programme, and the Kids-n-Keyboards Project, among others.