‘I get to learn more’

WESTERN BUREAU:

Ten-year-old Enrique Aiken speaks with quiet confidence, the kind that comes from finally understanding the work in front of him.

“I get to learn more stuff – things we did before and new things – for PEP,” said the grade-four student, referring to the Primary Exit Profile tests, proudly noting that he is in the top stream at Corinaldi Avenue Primary.

For him, the after-school programme he attends at the Wested Educational Centre on Hart Street in Montego Bay is more than just extra lessons; it is reinforcement, expansion, and a space where learning goes beyond the limits of his regular classroom.

“In class, we mainly focus on certain subjects,” he explained. “But here, we do more.”

Just a few seats away sits Andre* (not his real name), another 10-year-old, whose journey has been very different, but no less powerful. Where Enrique builds on strength, Andre is building from struggle.

Once unable to read at his grade level, Andre entered the programme reading at a level far below his peers. Today, he is progressing steadily, a transformation that speaks to the quiet impact of a small but determined initiative tucked inside one of Montego Bay’s most underserved communities.

The after-school programme, funded by RIU Hotels and Resorts, through its social responsibility arm, is helping more than 80 students from primary schools such as Albion, Barracks Road, Corinaldi and Anchovy to bridge critical gaps in literacy and numeracy, one lesson at a time.

“We are targeting students who are not performing at their expected grade level,” explained Crisina Campbell, corporate social responsibility coordinator for RIU Jamaica. “They are coming from schools across St James, and we are providing them with the support they need to catch up.”

That support is both structured and sustained.

RIU funds six specialist teachers, three focused on literacy and three on numeracy, along with books, learning tools, and other materials designed to strengthen foundational skills.

For Campbell, the programme is not just a short-term intervention.

“We typically start with a three-year commitment,” she said, “but if the need is still there and the programme is working, we continue.”

Inside the classroom, that investment is already paying off.

“At least 40 per cent of the students have improved,” Campbell noted, pointing to cases where children have advanced multiple reading levels within months.

One such case mirrors Andre’s journey, a student who entered reading at a grade-one level and is now reading at a grade-three level after consistent one-on-one support.

For educators like Arlene Bowen, the progress is deeply personal.

“It is a great joy,” said Bowen, a teacher of 12 years’ experience. “Some of these students come in below pre-primer. They don’t know letter sounds… they cannot put two letters together to form a word.”

But change happens, slowly, deliberately.

“Every day, you see steady improvement,” she said. “They move from below pre-primer to primer, then to grade one, grade two, and eventually grade three.”

Bowen recalled students who once struggled to identify basic sounds but are now forming words and reading independently.

“That is a great joy for us,” she said.

The Hart Street institution itself has long been rooted in the community.

“This school has been around since 2017,” explained deputy supervisor Carol Anglin. “But we actually started by helping adults in the community to read.”

That mission – to meet people where they are – remains at the heart of its work today, and while the focus is on the children, the impact is wider.

“The parents are benefiting, too,” Anglin said. “They come with the children, they are encouraged … they see the improvement.”

In a community often described as “inner city”, the school has also found strong local support.

“It is well protected,” said Anglin. “The community supports it.”

That support has proven critical, particularly in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which disrupted attendance and created ongoing transportation challenges for some students.

Still, the programme continues, driven by need, commitment, and small daily victories.

Back in the classroom, Enrique is already thinking ahead, absorbing lessons that will shape his performance in the PEP, while Andre is still mastering the basics, sounding out words, building sentences, finding his rhythm.

*Name changed to protect identity.

janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com