EU, JSIF fund basic school expansion

ALBION, St James:

FOR 20 YEARS, the inner-city communities of Norwood, Hendon, Glendevon and Albion have been waiting for a basic school conducive to 21st century early childhood education.  And just when they thought the future of their children was confined to a 20x23-foot lunch room at the rear of the Albion Moravian Church, the European Union (EU) changed that path.

The EU, through the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), has provided funding to the tune of J$29 million for the construction of a new building for the 23 students, aged three to five years. On completion, the school can accommodate 70 children.

"If we were to consider the standards of the Early Childhood Commission, we wouldn't be able to stay in the current building much longer," asserts the school's principal, Grace Gordon.

Without having her describe the situation, the worn cracked tiles on the floor spoke for themselves, and while the walls are painted and clean, the packed-to-capacity room that houses three different classes showed semblance of discomfort.

"We hold three different classes in the small space; we have no office, no sick bay and no lunch room," revealed Gordon. Now, she can look forward to the building of three classrooms, bathroom facilities, an administrative office, a fully equipped kitchen and a play area for the children on completion.

Manna from heaven

The EU's intervention is like manna from heaven and the parents, many of them single mothers, fighting hard to pay school fees, bear witness to that.

"Education is very important, I didn't get as much, and what I never got I want for my children," said Taka Thorpe, a single mother of three who has one child attending the school.

Thorpe lives very near to school, and is convinced that "Many parents will want to push out their children to come to school".

One of the challenges the Government faces is getting some parents to send their children to school regularly. This attitude has been attributed to the high rate of illiteracy in the country. The EU, in its thrust to support early childhood education, has provided funding for the rehabilitation and upgrading of a number of schools.

"Additional funds for our ongoing Poverty Reduction Programme II (EU PRP II) is to be approved in Brussels, Belgium, later this year, to further community development in Jamaica," Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni, head of the EU delegation to Jamaica, says.

He said that JSIF is currently compiling a list of proposals, with potentially more projects for St James. The projects already funded are having an impact on the parish and Taka Thorpe will enrol her son at the new Albion Basic School in September. This is something her four-year-old daughter Omelia Williams is excited about.

"Mi a four," said the outspoken youngster, emphasising her age with her fingers in the air.

"Mi bredda Aljay going to start down yah," she boasted innocently.

When little Omelia first started attending the school she wouldn't speak to anyone, said the principal. "And she was very angry often-times; whenever she spoke, she was loud, but now she is happy, bubbling with joy and very outspoken."

Omelia is from a community that is home to firing of gunshots. Her ears have become attuned, and even "When I say, it's a bike making the sound, she says no, it's a gun," said her mother.

For Shamar Wright, another mother of three, the Albion Basic School has been pivotal for her daughter. "Even under the current conditions, she is doing pretty well."

Caring teachers

She lauds the work of the teachers whom she describes as caring and very concerned about the welfare of the children.

That comes as no surprise, as Grace Gordon admits that some of the parents find it extremely hard to pay for lunch to feed their children, and the school ensures they eat, "and sometimes the school fee doesn't come in either", she added.

Many of the parents are unemployed, she argues, while the children are from volatile communities, broken homes, each having its own culture. "And we have to learn it to work with it."

Within another month the new Albion Basic School should be turned over to the school administrators.

The Poverty Reduction Programme (PRP)-II, the S1.1 billion programme that funded this project, is an on-the-ground project aiming at delivering direct and concrete support to vulnerable and volatile communities. The programme promotes community-based small infrastructure projects, like this one, where the community decides what their priorities are, put a project together, and make a contribution.

PRP-II mainly invests in small infrastructure projects for schools, but also rehabilitating roads, community centres, police stations, and water and sanitation projects will soon included in the pipeline. The programme also finances summer camps, scholarships, internships, and gives grants of low amounts in favour of micro-projects. Through all those small-scale projects, the European Union seeks to empower the communities to organise themselves, and foster local development dynamics.

rural@gleanerjm.com

CAPTION: Marco Mazzocchi Alemanni (centre), head of the European Union (EU) delegation to Jamaica, examines blueprints of the Albion Basic School during a tour of the school's construction grounds with members of the EU delegation and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF). Also pictured are (from left) Dwight Chattoo, project consultant from Centre Line Project Solutions Ltd; Richard Muirhead, JSIF project officer; Evelyn Robinson, chairman of the Albion Basic School board; Omar Sweeney, general manager in charge of technical services for JSIF; Alphanso Reynolds, CEO of Marshall Construction Company Ltd. - Photo by Christopher Thomas