Lawrence Tavern teachers receive laptops

Teachers at Lawrence Tavern Primary School were given laptops and classroom technology during a Teachers’ Day ceremony in St Andrew on Wednesday.

All 36 teachers received laptops, courtesy of the Flow Foundation, while the school was presented with a BlackPoint smartboard through a partnership with Imperial Appliances. The handover marks the start of a wider effort to distribute 250 smartboards across the education system, with Lawrence Tavern Primary the first beneficiary.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, said the occasion recognised the role teachers play in shaping the nation’s children.

Ministry officials also visited classrooms and interacted with students, she noted, adding that they saw “the best of Jamaica” in action.

“When you go around the classrooms and you interact with the students, you see the best of Jamaica and it’s that way because of the teachers and the leadership of this institution,” she said.

Morris Dixon stressed the importance of partnerships in advancing education, noting that the Government relies on support from corporate Jamaica. “We can’t do education without partners,” she said, thanking BlackPoint and Imperial Appliances for their contribution. “They’ve also said they’ll help us in other ways, so we’re going to be expanding this partnership,” the minister added.

She pointed out that while the ministry already provides laptops to teachers, those presented on Teachers’ Day was intended as gifts of appreciation.

Rhys Campbell, executive director of the Flow Foundation, said the organisation was pleased to support educators shaping the lives of Jamaican children.

Gul Mansukhani, chief executive of BlackPoint and Imperial Appliances, said the company stepped in after many schools were damaged during Hurricane Melissa. He noted that 500 smartboards had been imported, with half to be distributed through the ministry.

“The other 250, I personally will go and hand over to some of the schools in a couple months to come before September,” he said.

Principal Marlene Davis-Fairweather described the event as a “wonderful” and uplifting Teachers’ Day for the school community. “Today was really a wonderful Teachers’ Day here, as our school was chosen by the minister and the team from Region One to share and celebrate our teachers here,” she said.

She added that the new devices would support both teaching and learning at the school.

File name: Lawrence tavern laptops 

Caption: Minister of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon (fourth

right, front row), is joined by principal of Lawrence Tavern Primary School, Marlene Davis-

Fairweather (fourth left, front row); State Minister Rhoda Moy Crawford (fifth right, second row);

Government Senator, Rose Bennett Cooper (third right, front row); Lawrence Tavern Primary School

teachers and other stakeholders during Teachers’ Day Celebration, at the handover of digital

devices and a classroom smartboard on the school grounds on Wednesday.

Photo credit: Contributed