Pratville Primary Alum Partners with JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation to Donate Tablets to School 

Sheron Gilzean, general manager at JMMB Insurance Brokers and proud alumna of Pratville Primary School in South Manchester, and vice chair of the school board, joined forces with the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation to provide tablets to students at her alma mater. 

The alumna shared that she was motivated to assist the school to continue its solid legacy in producing well-rounded students, and as such, she sought to do her part to ensure no student is left behind and is afforded the best educational opportunities. Gilzean further revealed, “I have such fond memories of my schooldays at Pratville Primary and I credit it, in part, for helping to shape me and I want to ensure the school continues to shape young minds positively. So, when COVID-19 cases began to surge in Jamaica and schools were forced to adopt remote learning, I reached out to the Foundation for assistance to support financially challenged students who were not able to be actively engaged in lessons due to a lack of devices and connectivity issues, and I am happy that my Foundation responded to this need.”  

Principal of Pratville Primary, Tameika Swaby-Johnson in thanking the JMMB Joan Duncan Foundation and other donors for answering the call; also applauded Sheron for her role as an advocate for the cause. She outlined that these devices and internet connectivity have enabled her students to keep pace with their curriculum and other initiatives. “The donation of these devices has afforded the students the opportunity to be more involved and even participate in competitions and other regular activities, in fact, my students were placed second in the (Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s) Region 5 Math Competition (held in March).” Adding, as a rural school with several connectivity challenges, she is pleased that her students’ performance have remained on par and in some instances, students’ academic performance have improved, since the last academic year. 

Swaby-Johnson in celebrating the silver lining of the crisis, noted that due to remote learning in the pandemic, her students have benefitted from the donation of devices and as a result, “they have become more attuned to technology… (in addition) they are able to (further) develop their critical thinking skills (as they engage in independent learning); they are also more inquisitive as knowledge is more readily available (at their fingertips); thereby becoming true 21st century learners.”

The school has a population of 285 students and thus far approximately 80% of students are actively engaged in remote learning. A mixed modality approach is used by the school including Google classroom, Xoom and hardcopy materials to ensure all students are engaged and equipped irrespective of their online access. 

Kim Mair, CEO of the Foundation, outlined, “We are always happy to come on board to support initiatives involving our team members, especially as they seek to make a positive contribution to our society and to help individuals to unearth their greatness.”  

The donation is a part of the ‘One Laptop or Tablet Per Child’ initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information through its agency, the National Education Trust (NET) and Junior Achievement Jamaica. The initiative is aimed at providing 100,000 students with devices to enable full participation in online teaching and learning.

The Foundation has donated 400 tablets to 32 primary schools islandwide to assist vulnerable students to fully participate in online learning. This is in keeping with the organization’s commitment to develop youth, through education and empower them to lead transformed lives.