The Rotary Club of Montserrat announced Monday, the award of a EC$59,903.24 District Grant to the St. Augustine Primary School.
According to the official club release, the grant has been donated to the school to procure Information & Communication Technology equipment, with the intention of improving the delivery and effectiveness of ICT learning within the St. Augustine Primary School.
St. Augustine Primary School was established in 1875, and has been the only Catholic Primary School on Montserrat for the past 145 years. The school offers classes from Kindergarten level to Grade 6 level and has been the recipient of many academic awards since its inception.
Principal of the St. Augustine Primary School shared “We wrote a project entitled ‘Inspiring Possibilities for ICT for St. Augustine School’, seeking to enhance our IT delivery at the school for all students from Grade K to Grade 6. At the time, we did not have sufficient computers so we applied for some tablets and laptops for our pupils. We’re hoping that this will have a significant improvement in what we do.
During [the lockdown caused by] Covid-19, some of our students were challenged, but we’re hoping that this will alleviate the difficulties that some of our students face.”
St. Augustine Primary School ICT Teacher, Miss Jodi Baptist stated: “I feel very gratified – especially as a teacher – recognizing that there was a gap, and some of our students were not able to succeed as they could have, because they don’t have the information at their fingertips. It’s very satisfying, and I’m thankful that Rotary has been able to bridge that gap and sponsor us in this way.”
The Rotary Club of Montserrat is a non-profit service organization whose stated purpose is to bring together business and professional leaders in order to provide humanitarian service and advance goodwill and peace within the Montserrat community. The Rotary Club of Montserrat is one of 72 clubs within the regional grouping of District 7030, which spans over 17 English, French, and Dutch territories within the Caribbean region. This district grant was applied for and awarded during the 2019-2020 Rotary Year, and has been the largest award of any grant within the history of the 7030 district.
2020-2021 President of the Rotary Club of Montserrat, Linda Dias shared “It’s a pleasure to award St. Augustine Primary School with this financial support. The school has been a pillar in our society, and has shown great academic success for some years. We believe that this district grant will give the school a significant boost in creating an enabling environment for advanced learning in ICT.”
2020-2020 Rotary Assistant Governor for Montserrat, Jermaine Wade stated: “It will be a landmark project for Rotary for years to come, and we will look back and be proud of our accomplishment after seeing the fruits of what we would’ve rendered to the St. Augustine Primary School.
The Rotary Club of Montserrat previously awarded a District Grant for Science Laboratory equipment to the Brades Primary School and the Montserrat Secondary School in 2018.
May 23rd 2020 saw the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Rotary Club of Montserrat.
