Students Receive Tablets from Toots Foundation

Forty-five students from the Windward Road and Rollington Town Primary Schools in Kingston and Treadlight Primary school in Clarendon have received tablets donated by the Toots Foundation.

The tablets were presented to the students (15 tablets to each school) at a special handover ceremony, at the Ministry of Education and Youth, recently.

They were donated in honour of the late Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, OJ, multi-Grammy award-winning reggae artiste.

“I know that a lot of the children do not have these tablets, and I’m glad that you are giving them to us. Children love to learn, so I would like to thank you,” said Jayden McFarlane, Head Boy at the Rollington Town Primary, Kingston.

The Foundation, in partnership with Youth For Excellence Limited and the Ministry of Education and Youth, provided the tablets, valued at over $750,000.

Daughter of Toots Hibbert and Vice President of the Toots Foundation, Leba Hibbert, said her father believed in the power of education and that empowerment of the youth is the best way to fix the society.

“I am so proud of the legacy he has left behind and I am grateful to Youth For Excellence for their partnership in helping us to have my dad’s vision realised,” she said.

Founder, Board Co-Chair and President of Youth For Excellence Limited, Jénine Shepherd, expressed her gratitude to the Foundation for trusting her organisation with the icon’s legacy project.

Ms. Shepherd commended Ms. Hibbert for keeping her father’s memory alive by maintaining his legacy.

The Ministry, through the National Education Trust (NET), assisted with the purchasing process, shipping logistics as well as the organisation and execution of the handover ceremony.

Minister of Education and Youth, Hon. Fayval Williams, who also spoke at the ceremony, said it was a wonderful and well appreciated gesture.

“We cannot thank you enough for this generous donation that will support our efforts to reduce, and I dare say, eliminate the digital divide within the school system, which is in line with what the Ministry has been trying to do,” she said. Meanwhile, Vice Principal at the Rollington Town Primary, Pauline Harris, said her school is very grateful for the devices.

“Presently, we are upgrading our computer room, and during our last exam, the Grade Three diagnostic test, we had to use the computer room because it was online. So, these tablets will surely help us from time to time; we will make use of them,” she said.

Speaking on behalf of the Treadlight Primary School, Acting Principal, Casmin Hayles-Chambers, said she is extremely delighted that her school is a beneficiary of the well-needed tablets, adding that Treadlight is the heart of Toots Foundation.

“This is the district Toots is from and I have taught many of his siblings and interfaced with many of them, so it is only fitting that Treadlight Primary is a part of this occasion,” she said.

For her part, Acting Principal, Windward Road Primary, Tanisha Titters-Montaque, said the school is grateful to Miss Shepherd and the Toots Hibbert Foundation for their consideration.

“We consider it that we have a blessed school, and we are happy that the need is seen and that the Foundation thought it necessary to help us fill the gap, because the need is great. These gifts will go a far way as we help to bridge the divide,” she said. A previous beneficiary of the Toots Foundation is the Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston.