NCB Foundation Impacts the Lives of Teachers and Students at Majesty Gardens Infant School

It is a well-known fact that proper hygiene is necessary for good health and this is especially true for children who are more susceptible to germs and bacteria.

It is also true that proper bathroom facilities are needed for this to happen, so imagine then your child not benefitting from such conveniences at their school.

This was the case for approximately 90 students and staff at the Majesty Gardens Infant School, who had to make do with bathroom facilities that were in less than suitable conditions.

However, the situation at the school changed, with assistance from the National Commercial Bank (NCB) Foundation in late 2016.

NCB Foundation donated $457,050 to renovate the school’s bathroom facilities after it was approached by the St. Andrew Settlement, an outreach project of the St. Andrew Parish Church, on behalf of the school.
NCB Foundation Director, Miguel Williams, says the donation highlights the role of the Foundation to assist with the development of youth and the nation.

“We must continue in partnerships such as these to develop our communities. When we do these projects, it opens up what we are doing and others will see the need to come on board and add to what we have started,” he states.

Chairman of St. Andrew Settlement and the Majesty Gardens Infant School, Greta Bogues, says that the outreach project, along with some members of the National Chorale drafted the proposal which was submitted to NCB Foundation.

“The National Chorale utilises our church to do practices every week and some members wanted to find a way to give back to the church and they said let us approach NCB Foundation to see how they could help. So we put together a project for refurbishing the bathrooms of the infant school and we were extremely delighted that NCB Foundation agreed and funded this project,” she shares.

Ms. Bogues adds that the help was needed to get the bathrooms up to standard, if the school was to be in line with the guidelines of the State.

“We have certain guidelines that we have to maintain with the Ministry of Education and also in line with the Early Childhood Commission and one of those is to ensure that we have proper bathroom facilities for our students,” she says.

Principal of the school Beverley Tyndale, who assumed leadership in 2007, tells JIS News that the renovation is the first major one since she has been there.

She says the condition of the bathrooms prior to the Foundation’s intervention were unacceptable.

“The urinals were not working, the tiles were broken and many of them fell out. It was not child friendly. Also, the face basin in the teachers’ bathroom was broken,” Ms. Tyndale describes.

The funds were used to retile the bathrooms, install new toilets and urinals for the students and a face basin for the teachers, as well as refurbish a wash area.

The facilities were officially handed over and a plaque unveiled during a ceremony at the school on Wednesday, January 18.

Ms. Tyndale says both students and staff are now “happy and comfortable”. The parents are also ecstatic about the changes.

Grandparent, Karen Levy, expresses gratitude to NCB Foundation, saying that “the bathroom looks nice, you can even sleep there. Thanks NCB Foundation.”

The renovation was done by Johnson Shaw Design Management Services over two weeks.

Project Lead Jonathan Johnson, says that as part of the job, water conservation faucets were installed, especially because of the age group of the children.

Mr. Johnson explains that “once a tap is turned on, it stays on for approximately eight seconds before it automatically turns off.”

The N.C.B. Foundation respects and embraces charitable causes that are relevant to the betterment of Jamaica and leads in corporate social responsibility through strategic partnerships focused on the development of the nation’s people.