IN EDUCATION
TONY HART has also been instrumental in the establishment of computer centres in a number of primary schools, as his belief was that “if every child in Jamaica is computercompetent, then every child in Jamaica can get a job”. The Hart family’s legacy of philanthropy is well established in western Jamaica. They financed the restoration of the Baptist Manse in Falmouth, Trelawny, after it was extensively damaged by Hurricane Gilbert in 1988. The building had been in a derelict state after the storm, when Tony and wife Sheila established the William Knibb Trust and purchased interest-bearing bonds, with the requirement that all dividends be used to restore the building.
His wife, children – Wendy, Mark, Bruce and Blaise – and close friends are well accustomed to his charitable nature and support of various causes; and retirement left Tony with more time to devote to another such passion: primary education. He dedicated much of his energy to fundraising and donated much of his own money towards the furtherance of this cause. He raised millions of dollars to keep St Mary’s Preparatory School in Montpelier, St James, open. Former students of Montpelier College, a nowdefunct Anglican institution, were also beneficiaries of Tony’s benevolence; he financed and raised money to provide scholarships for students whose parents could not afford to send them to school.
He was firm in his belief that children should be given a solid foundation in the early years, hence his plan to computerise one local primary school each year. This initiative was steeped in his conviction that computer literacy is the key to ensuring Jamaican students’ readiness for the global labour market. In his mind, this thrust is even more critical because Jamaica is quickly evolving into the information and communications technologies hub of the Caribbean.
As such, the employability of many of the nation’s youth depends on it.