Guardian Life comes good for Flanker and Lottery students

WESTERN BUREAU:

Grade-six students at Flanker Primary and Infant School and Lottery Primary and Infant School in St James are now better able to bridge the digital divide, thanks to insurance giant Guardian Life and the Guardian Foundation.

Oneil Brooks, senior branch manager for Guardian Insurance Montego Bay branch, in making the presentation of tablet computers to students, said the two schools are numbered among several across the island that have benefited so far from the company’s donation of digital devices. The donation forms part of Guardian’s efforts to ensure that students in vulnerable communities are able to access education during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are donating these tablets to Flanker Primary to ensure that the students are on their way to a great education,” Brooks told The Gleaner following the presentation of 30 tablet computers to the school.

In October, Guardian Life and Guardian Foundation joined forces with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information on the ‘A Device For Every Child- Bridging the Digital Divide’ project to provide primary and secondary students with devices to ensure that no child is left behind.

Brooks stated that as part of the company’s initiative to support schools in the delivery of quality education, Guardian Life Limited and the Guardian Group Foundation pledged $5 million towards the purchase of laptops and tablets for students in need.

‘Technology the Way to Go’

“We believe that technology is the way to go. As such, we are doing this to make sure that they are fully equipped so that they can become the best they can be,” stated Brooks.

While the school was not present to receive the tablets, Brooks said Lottery Primary and Infant School, which is located in deep rural St James, is in need of technological support, and the Guardian Life and Guardian Foundation are happy to help satisfy that need.

According to Brooks, the two schools were chosen based on their vulnerability. However, he said greater concentration was placed on the students at Flanker Primary because of the community in which the school is located, and the need to reverse stigmatisation.

“People usually associate Flanker with crime and violence, but we believe that Flanker is far more than that. There are many good things that come out of Flanker,” said Brooks. “As such, we just want to contribute to the young children so that they can develop.”

Collette Barnes, the principal of Flanker Primary, said the school and the wider community are grateful to Guardian Life for donating the tablets because many parents have been displaced from their jobs since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, and are challenged in providing their children with tablets and other devices to access online classes.

“Our grade-six students who will be sitting their Primary Exit Profile (PEP) examinations in March, these 30 tablets will be given to them to help them to be better prepared for their major exiting exam into high schools,” she said. “We are living in a globalised world where technology is advanced, and now we are moving in the right direction. We are really happy to have received these items,” added Barnes.

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