... PATH students benefit, too

“WITH THIS launch, the cashless programme is now available for implementation in all schools and colleges across Jamaica. We are pleased that the cashless system features great partnership with Victoria Mutual Building Society and Wisynco Foods,” manager, sales and marketing at Alliance Payment Services, Raquel Reid said.

For her part, principal of Campion College, Grace Baston, voiced her support for the initiative, noting that the ePay card is used to allow students to purchase meals at the canteen.

“Quite appropriately, we also integrate our Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) and welfare students into the programme, so that they too have cards to purchase meals. So, you cannot, at Campion, tell the difference between a PATH student transaction and any other transaction,” Baston said.

Meanwhile, president of the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ), Everton Hannam, also endorsed the initiative.

“The NPTAJ is committed to working with our schools, parents and administrators to ensure that we cultivate the safest possible environment for our students. In the face of this, the NPTAJ believes that the cashless school initiative, if rolled out universally and becomes ubiquitous, will provide a platform of safety, prevent theft, campus bullying and the violence associated with these events,” Hannam said.

The launch of the cashless school initiative at St George’s College follows the successful implementation of the tertiary leg of the programme at The Mico University College in 2016.