Manpower and Maintenance Services Limited Donates Tablets to Bryce Primary School

Some 12 tablets were handed over to Bryce Primary School, to assist needy students to continue their studies online, while schools remain closed due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The tablets were donated by Manpower and Maintenance Services Limited, through its Foundation, as part of their 30th-anniversary celebration.

 The devices were donated in response to the government’s call for a public-private partnership to put tablets and laptops into the hands of needy children.

Speaking at the handover ceremony held at the Bryce United Church in Manchester on November 27, Chief Executive Officer and founder of Manpower and Maintenance Services Limited, Audrey Hinchcliffe says that COVID-19 has changed the way society operates.

“This is a new age and to make technology a part of life is something worth celebrating. So if you don’t have your own instrument and if parents cannot afford it, we are going to have to find a way. When COVID is over, we’re not going back – we’re going to have to get with the programme,” Mrs. Hinchcliffe said.

She noted that the donation of the tablet computers was her way of giving back. “Once there is a needy child, that is where my heart is,” Mrs. Hinchcliffe said.

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams in commending the Manpower and Maintenance Services Foundation for the tablets said, the Government was doing its part, but could not do it alone.

“When we launched the ‘One Laptop or Tablet Per Child’ appeal, it was a broad appeal to corporate Jamaica, individuals, and the Diaspora to come on board and help us. Mrs. Hinchcliffe heard the call and she is here with her donation,” Mrs. Williams said.

For his part, Member of Parliament for North East Manchester and Industry, Investment and Commerce, Hon. Audley Shaw made a donation of eight tablets to the school, through the Sandals Foundation.

He also thanked the Education Ministry for implementing the ‘Own Your Own Device Incentive Programme’.

The Own Your Own Device Incentive Programme is an initiative through which the government is assisting with the purchase of tablets or laptops for students who are in need but are not on the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH).

It will benefit an estimated 36,000 needy students in primary and secondary schools across the island.

Under the programme, parents or guardians will receive an electronic voucher (eVoucher) valued at $20,000 for the purchase of a device from an approved vendor.

Members of Parliament (MPs) recently received the application forms for the Programme, and Minister Shaw is urging parents “to try to find a way to top up the contribution.”