GTECH returns to SOS Children’s Village
GTECH has extended its outreach to the SOS Children’s Village in Barrett Town, Montego Bay, providing a well-equipped computer lab as they did earlier this year to Village in Stony Hill, St Andrew. The symbolic handing-over ceremony took place recently at the Stony Hill location, with members of the Barrett Town home present.
The lab at Barrett Town is the sixth centre opened in Jamaica through GTECH’s After School Advantage Programme. The new lab, which is installed with 10 Internet-ready computers, came fast on the heels of a similar facility opened in May this year at St Michael’s Primary in Kingston.
“We are living in a world where computer literacy is an absolute necessity, especially in the work world,” noted Debbie Green, GTECH Jamaica’s general manager.
“Children of all ages must be exposed to computer technology as this is particularly useful during the formative years of their development. GTECH is happy to assist schools and children’s homes with this kind of support, so that collaboratively we can work towards making this nation computer literate. This is our sixth centre in Jamaica and we hope to increase this number in the coming year.”
“I’m so overwhelmed and I get a bit emotional when I think about GTECH’s support and commitment to education,” noted Marjory Kennedy, chair of SOS Children’s Village.
“The ‘frills’ like computer access are not covered by SOS International and without GTECH’s help it would be very difficult to fund these kinds of facilities. Having computers and access to the Internet is critical, especially in today’s society, and this will further provide opportunities for education.”
The Barrett Town branch of the SOS Children’s Village houses 81 children ages three to 23, all of whom will benefit from the newly installed computer lab. In addition, 32 students from Jane Veira Basic School, a neighbouring early childhood institution, will be receiving basic computer lessons at the lab. These students will be engaged in games and nursery rhymes that will assist with literacy and numeracy.
With the goal of fully maximising the newly opened facility, administrators plan to start a refresher course for caregivers at the home, so they can better assist the young residents with their homework and various class assignments.
“Everything we do goes right back to benefit our children,” remarked Paulette Lindo, programme director at the home. “It was becoming very difficult for the children doing their CXC exams to complete their SBAs and their research assignments, and so we are very grateful for these new computers. Before GTECH came on board we had one computer available in each of the 11 houses on property. It was difficult to have all the children in each house gather around one single computer. With this lab we can now engage in an online course available for GSAT students, and the class can be managed in a more efficient way.”
On average, GTECH’s After School Advantage Programme invests US$15,000 ($1.56 million) to open and maintain each of the centres established.
“I feel blessed to be here today and to have the chance to be able to give back to society and humanity,” Luis Porcayo, GTECH’s regional technology manager said at the handing over.
“I encourage the children to make the best opportunity of their education. Picture yourselves years from now, and know that your lives go beyond this room. I am from Mexico and I had to find my way, too, and I know you can do the same.”
Since 2006, GTECH Jamaica has provided assistance to a number of schools and institutions including Lawrence Tavern and Easington primary schools, Sylvia Foote Basic School, the University of Technology, Caribbean Maritime Institute, Portmore Community College, Dunrobin Primary School, Holy Trinity High School, the Jamaica Christian Boys’ Home, SOS Children’s Village Stony Hill and St Michael’s Primary. Currently, over 200 GTECH-supported After School Advantage Programme centres operate globally.
“We are truly grateful to GTECH for providing both SOS Stony Hill and SOS in Barrett Town with the avenue and the ability to better assist our students. We have seen improvement in the quality of their assignments. Now we also have the ability to track how students conduct their research to ensure that they are not visiting any inappropriate websites. This is a great gift to our children,” noted Paul Osbourne, programme director at SOS Children’s Village in Stony Hill.
The GTECH After School Advantage Programme started in the Caribbean in 2005 in Trinidad and Tobago with 10 centres, where a further 12 new centres have been opened since 2011. In the US Virgin Islands, GTECH has partnered with the Queen Louise Home for Children in St Croix, and the company has plans to open centres in Barbados and Antigua by early 2014.
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