PwC Jamaica donates 40 tablets to Holy Trinity High School

The partners of PwC Jamaica gifted 40 tablets to Holy Trinity High School during a presentation ceremony held at the institution on Monday.

The donation comes as a direct response to the school’s appeal for support, having recently disclosed that less than 50 per cent of its students were logging on for classes since the beginning of the academic term due to the lack of digital resources.

Gail Moore, assurance partner at PwC Jamaica, said: “At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems, and we believe that one way to achieve this is by contributing to the environment and communities in which we live and work. Having recognised Holy Trinity High’s urgent needs for devices, we had to respond. Amid all that is happening our children, who are the most vulnerable, rely on us for care, protection and support. Therefore, my fellow partners and I made a personal commitment to assist Holy Trinity. The result of that is the donation made today.”

Moore also noted that this donation was the beginning of PwC Jamaica’s partnership with the Holy Trinity High School, a comment that was well-received by chairman of the school board and retired partner of PwC Jamaica, Gladstone Lewars.

“It’s a wonderful gesture, and it could not have happened to a better school. As we all know, it [Holy Trinity] is not a traditional high school. Many of the parents are not wealthy and, therefore, the opportunity to buy tablets for kids does not exist easily. And so we are very, very happy that PricewaterhouseCoopers has seen it fit to make this presentation.”

According to Father Carl F, Clarke, principal of Holy Trinity High School, the donation from PwC Jamaica will have a great impact on both the school and the students.

“Words cannot express the gratitude that we feel. Holy Trinity has approximately 1,149 students. At the moment, we are only engaging about 35 per cent online, many of whom are not able to come online because they do not have the gadgets. This will go a long way in assisting others in joining us online.”

AWAITING ASSISTANCE

Father Clarke estimates that the school needs at least 200 more tablets for the main school population as they await assistance for the over 460 students on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) to receive tablets.

“Many of them [the students] are challenged with attention. Many of them are from inner-city communities, and the environment is not conducive to studies. And for some, their parents are also not there, and that sometimes causes problems,” noted Father Clarke.

For the next academic term,Father Clarke is hoping that the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information will grant them the opportunity to meet the students face-to-face. “The kids we have at Holy Trinity High School are kids who need to be engaged face-to-face. The online modality is not going to be effective with them.”