The Education Ministry has heaped praises on the Desnoes and Geddes (D&G) Foundation for its ongoing support of the development of the nation’s youth, following a donation of $4.2 million to the HEART Trust/NTA’s CXC Night Academy programme.
More than 500 students across the island will benefit from the donation to the CXC Night Academy. At the recent cheque handover, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Floyd Green commended the foundation for its stake in harnessing education as a tool for national development.
“I applaud this partnership and really thank the D&G Foundation for remaining true to its mandate. I can tell you, across the length and breadth of Jamaica, the lives of people will be made better,” he said.
The Foundation presented the cheque at the Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL) headquarters on South Camp Road. Under the partnership between the HEART Trust and the D&G Foundation, 515 students will be able to re-sit Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate mathematics and English language in May/June 2018 free of cost at the CXC Night Academy.
“This is a great stepping stone for people out there who need the help, and the teachers are amazing,” said an ecstatic beneficiary, Samantha Taylor.
For Taylor and her colleagues, the HEART Trust/NTA CXC Night Academy is a chance to chase their dreams and achieve financial stability for themselves and their families. The students have big ambitions, including hopes of joining the Jamaica Defence Force, the Jamaica Constabulary Force and the Ministry of Education as they seek to contribute to national development.
Garth Williams, sustainability manager at Red Stripe said the investment in the CXC Night Academy was inspired by the foundation’s desire to foster community development.
“We see education as a crucial tool that will help propel these students to achieve future success so they can in turn contribute to the development of their communities and help others do the same along the way,” he said.
Since the 2008 launch of the D&G Foundation’s Learning for Life initiative, Red Stripe has invested a total of $161 million towards the development of Jamaica’s youth via training and education.
