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Balcombe Drive Primary gets computers to start new school year

Published:Monday | October 5, 2020 | 12:10 AM
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Ricardo Dystant (left), chief, digital transformation, JN Bank, shows Yvette Foster (centre), principal, Balcombe Drive Primary School in Olympic Gardens, a mouse and keyboard that will support 10 computers donated to the school by the bank in partnership
Contributed
Ricardo Dystant (left), chief, digital transformation, JN Bank, shows Yvette Foster (centre), principal, Balcombe Drive Primary School in Olympic Gardens, a mouse and keyboard that will support 10 computers donated to the school by the bank in partnership with Royale Computers. Observing is Kavaughn McNeil, president of the Rotaract Club of St Andrew, which initiated the donation to the school through the club’s Project Technological Enhanced Learning to provide in-need schools with devices to support teaching and learning. .
Ricardo Dystant (right), chief digital transformation, JN Bank, shows Yvette Foster, principal, Balcombe Drive Primary School in St Andrew, and chairman, Alden Brown (second left), a central processing unit, one of 10 which JN Bank donated along with monit
Contributed
Ricardo Dystant (right), chief digital transformation, JN Bank, shows Yvette Foster, principal, Balcombe Drive Primary School in St Andrew, and chairman, Alden Brown (second left), a central processing unit, one of 10 which JN Bank donated along with monitors and other computer equipment in collaboration with Royale Computers to assist the school with its preparation for the new school year. Observing is Kavaughn McNeil, president of the Rotaract Club of St Andrew, which initiated the donation to the school through the club’s Project Technological Enhanced Learning to provide in-need schools with devices to support teaching and learning. The presentation was made at the school on September 29.
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With virtual teaching and learning now the new mode for delivering education in light of the worsening COVID-19 outbreak in Jamaica, the Balcombe Drive Primary School in the inner-city community of Olympic Gardens in St Andrew is now better equipped to serve its students.

Through the efforts of a group of young professionals from the Rotaract Club of St Andrew, on September 29, the school received 10 computers, along with supporting devices, to start the new school year, which began today. The computers and devices, which now add literal meaning to the previously unequipped computer lab, were donated by JN Bank in partnership with Royale Computers.

Chairman of the school, Alden Brown, committed to ensure that the devices are optimally used to support the best outcome for the students.

“I want to thank Jamaica National, Rotaract and Royale [Computers] for this kind gift. It’s a gift that we more than appreciate,” he said.

Principal Yvette Foster underscored that the devices would go a far way in supporting the school’s efforts to educate its students during this period.

“When we conducted our classes in March (the start of the COVID-19 outbreak in Jamaica), we found that most of our students did not have anything to work with. So, we did not reach all our students,” she explained.

“Some had devices, but the problem was they did not have any Internet service and some of the devices were not compatible with Zoom and other [collaborative learning software],” she informed.

The principal pointed out that recently, the school received 40 tablets from the Government for students, under the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) initiative. However, there were still several others in its 150-student population without access to a device or the Internet.

She said the donation of the computers and equipment, therefore, represents a turning point for the school, as it can now accommodate students who would not have had access to these devices. In addition, the school can also finally consider incorporating information technology into its curriculum.

“We are going to have the devices up now for some of our students to use, because some of them might not have anything (computers) at home to use, so even though we won’t be having any face-to-face [teaching], we will be able to help them with their homework,” she explained.

EXTENDING LAB ACCESS

The school is now developing the logistics to determine how it will provide lab access to all the students without their own devices or Internet.

She said the school has had a long-standing relationship with the Rotaract Club of St Andrew, having benefited from the club’s support in past years.

“Our relationship started in 2014,” club president Kavaughn McNeil acknowledged.

“One of our biggest focuses in Rotary and Rotaract is supporting education and literacy. Over the years, we have done stationery drives for Balcombe Drive Primary School and this year COVID happened, so we didn’t need so much of the books and pencils anymore, we needed to get devices that students could use to access online learning and overall develop themselves. So we just want to express our gratitude to JN Bank, in partnership with Royale Computers, for making this donation,” he said.

The donation to the school forms part of the club’s wider Project Technological Enhanced Learning targeted at providing schools in need with desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and data to prepare students for the new digital learning landscape.

Chief of digital transformation and special projects at JN Bank, Ricardo Dystant, welcomed the initiative, and said there is no greater need at this juncture of the country’s development than the need to ensure education continues uninterrupted.

“Especially with COVID-19, gone are the days when we said the computer is for ‘those people’, and so if we want to get our next generation ready to be number one in this new norm, we have to embrace the technology,” he affirmed.

Dystant also urged corporate entities to extend similar support to schools where they can.

“It’s a great opportunity for us, as corporate citizens, to come together. Royale, whom we have been doing business with, joined us to make this a reality for the students, because at the end of the day, the reality is we may just discover the next Steve Jobs. The opportunities are endless for our children,” he remarked during handover of the devices.

The corporate sponsors provided 10 central processing units, along with 10 new monitors, keyboards, and computer mice. JN Bank will also be supporting with an additional Wi-Fi modem, to strengthen the availability of wireless Internet at the school.