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JPS powers STEAM education with $16m grant to UWI

Published:Monday | September 4, 2023 | 12:07 AMAinsworth Morris/Staff Reporter
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Steve Berberich (centre), President and CEO, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), shake hands with Dr Tomlin Paul, deputy principal, The University of the West Indies, Mona, at the MOU signing between JPS Foundation/The UWI CAPE Workshops at JPS’s hea
Rudolph Brown
Steve Berberich (centre), President and CEO, Jamaica Public Service Company (JPSCo), shake hands with Dr Tomlin Paul, deputy principal, The University of the West Indies, Mona, at the MOU signing between JPS Foundation/The UWI CAPE Workshops at JPS’s head office on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston. Looking on are Gary Barrow (left), chief operating officer, JPS, and Winsome Callum, director of corporate communications, JPS.
From left: Signing the memorandum of understanding are Gary Barrow, JPS, COO; Steve Berberich, president and CEO of JPS; Dr Tomlin Paul, UWI deputy principal, Mona campus; and Professor Tannecia Stephenson, deputy dean in the Faculty of Science and Techno
Rudolph Brown
From left: Signing the memorandum of understanding are Gary Barrow, JPS, COO; Steve Berberich, president and CEO of JPS; Dr Tomlin Paul, UWI deputy principal, Mona campus; and Professor Tannecia Stephenson, deputy dean in the Faculty of Science and Technology. Looking on are Winsome Callum(left), director of corporate communications at JPS, and Camille Lumsden Dwyer, director of JPS Foundation and manager of PMO and Logistics. The signing between JPS Foundation and The UWI CAPE Workshops was held at JPS’s head office on Knutsford Boulevard in New Kingston last Thursday.
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THE JAMAICA Public Service Foundation has donated $16 million to The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, to conduct workshops for Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE)-level students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

REMARKABLE STRIDES

Calls have been made by numerous stakeholders for greater emphasis to be placed on STEAM education. Some have come from the education sector as well, with Nadine Molloy, former president of the Jamaica Teachers’ Association and principal of Ardenne High School, and Marsha Smith, state minister in the Ministry of Education and Youth, pushing the issue at the annual International Conference on Math Teaching, which was held at the Shortwood Teachers’ College.

After years of public education through the Ministry of Education and Youth for STEAM, Jamaica has made remarkable strides. In 2010, the number of students enrolled in STEAM programmes across Jamaica stood at 5,000. However, as of 2023, that number skyrocketed to 50,000.

The official handover of the funds was done after the signing of a memorandum of understanding at the head office of JPS in New Kingston on Thursday morning.

According to Steve Berberich, chief executive officer of the Jamaica Public Service Company Ltd (JPS), funding will be activated over a period of five years for the CAPE workshops. He said The UWI was chosen because it has been hosting a series of CAPE workshops since 2003, to increase students’ interest in STEAM subjects and improve their performance in these areas.

“The country of Jamaica has enormous potential and I believe the world is at a major inflection point now, where we can invigorate young minds to participate in this inflection, and the inflection I’m talking about is the dramatic change in the way we power energy, the way we use energy, and the way we decarbonise our entire system,” Berberich said.

“STEAM education is going to be critical for this great country to stay abreast, and to develop its economy and create great jobs for its people. JPS and its foundation believe this is core to the development, so we are happy to support this initiative,” he said.

This initiative is aligned with one of the key areas of focus of the JPS Foundation - science & technology education - and enhances the foundation’s efforts to support students pursuing STEAM at the secondary and tertiary levels, while driving innovation for national development.

Dr Tomlin Paul, deputy principal, UWI, Mona, expressed gratitude on behalf of the administrators of the university, who will seek out secondary-level sixth-form students to assist in the upcoming months, which they, in return, hope will boost the qualification of students who apply for studies in 2024, 2025 and 2026.

“We have done this for 20 years. We have had the privilege of nurturing and supporting some 33,000 students to date across Jamaica, and these students have reported that they have benefited from this. They love the content. They love the teachers, and more than that, their interest in science and technology has increased, and that is what we want really,” Paul said.

He added that the UWI plays a critical role in seeking out STEAM-motivated students, which the funds will assist in doing this academic year.

ainsworth.morris@gleanerjm.com