Whitehouse Early Childhood Centre in MoBay Being Upgraded

Teachers and students at the Whitehouse Early Childhood Centre in Montego Bay, St. James, should experience a more comfortable learning environment when face-to-face classes resume, due to infrastructural upgrades being carried out at the institution.

The work, which is being undertaken by the St. James Police, MBJ Airports Limited and Sandals Foundation, aims to help the institution attain certification from the Early Childhood Commission (ECC).

The ECC has 12 operational standards that must be met by early-childhood institutions for them to be certified.

These relate to Staffing; Developmental/Educational Programmes; Interactions and Relationships with Children; the Physical Environment; Indoor and Outdoor Equipment, Furnishing and Supplies; Health; Nutrition; Safety; Child Rights, Child Protection and Equality; Interactions with Parents and Community Members; Administration; and Finance.

Works being carried out at the school include the construction of a sickbay, bathroom facilities, a play area as well as perimeter fencing.

Manager, Commercial Business Development and Marketing at MBJ Airports Limited, Sharon Hislop-Holt, says with the improvements, the institution has now met several minimum standards, which moves it one step closer to full ECC certification.

She tells JIS News that the upgrade should contribute to an improvement in the learning outcome for the students.

“We have been working with the Whitehouse community, as it borders the airport lands, so we find it fit to extend our corporate social responsibility to the community. We want to ensure that the [school] facility meets all the requirements to be certified, so we know that the children are in a safe environment,” she says.

She notes that the company has completed the construction of an adult-only restroom, refurbished the restrooms used by toddlers, and donated fencing and other construction materials for the perimeter barrier and additional refurbishing works to be completed.

A hand-wash sink for the kitchen was also donated to the school by the company.

Mrs. Hislop-Holt says that owing to MBJ Limited’s support to the early-childhood centre, the institution has been certified as fit and safe for purpose by the Jamaica Fire Brigade.

She notes that with the sanitation infrastructure now in place, “the school has received an 85 per cent score from the Ministry of Health and Wellness and is now required to effect only two changes for full certification that would allow them to facilitate face-to-face classes.”

Mrs. Hislop-Holt says the company has been working closely with the Whitehouse community since 2019, aimed at providing support that would enhance its socio-economic profile.

Meanwhile, Regional Manager for Sandals Montego Bay, Ian Spencer, says the work to renovate the institution forms part of the company’s continued investment in the island’s education infrastructure and also the Whitehouse community where one of the company’s hotels is located.

“The Whitehouse community is right next to Sandals Montego Bay, right in our backyard, and it is a community to which we are closely knit… So it is part of our corporate social responsibility to see how we can improve the socio-economic conditions of the community,” he says.

Mr. Spencer notes that while learning has moved online due to the (COVID-19) pandemic, upgrade to the school’s physical plant is being done in preparation for the resumption of physical classes in the future.

“There are some issues with the roof that we have to upgrade. There are some internal things that we have to put in place in terms of bathroom facilities, which the Ministry of Education has mandated before they can reopen,” he shares.

“We are assisting in completing the sickbay, we are also going to be doing some upgrading on the outside, do a fencing area then we are going to upgrade it into a proper playing area so the kids will also be able to play properly. We are also looking at how we can improve the kitchen facility,” Mr. Spencer adds.

Meanwhile, Chairman of the Whitehouse Early Childhood Institution, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Yvonne Whyte-Powell, has expressed gratitude for the infrastructural upgrade, which she says will enhance the delivery of early-childhood education in the community.

DSP Whyte-Powell, who also heads the Community Safety and Security Branch in St. James, explains that the police formed a relationship with the institution in 2013 and subsequently engaged private-sector entities, including Sandals Foundation and MBJ Airports Limited to adopt the school.

She is confident that the transformation of the school plant will result in increased enrolment following a fall off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We had as many as 23 students at one stage [but] with the advent of COVID-19 and [the transition to] online teaching and learning, the population has gotten smaller; but we are working to bring back up the school to what is was before in terms of registration and to get additional students, and based on the transformation that is taking place I am sure that it will be achieved,” she adds.

She estimates that the project should be completed early 2022.