Jamaica Gleaner

Allman Town Primary one step closer to COVID compliance

- Judana.murphy@gleanerjm.com

TWENTY STEP-ON waste baskets have been donated to Allman Town Primary School as it seeks to become COVID-19 compliant.

The donation was made by Kingston Central Member of Parliament ( MP) Donovan Williams through the Constituen­cy Developmen­t Fund.

Wednesday’s handover follows a request made in February as the school prepared to reopen for the sitting of the Primary Exit Profile (PEP) in March.

The PEP ability test is now set for May 26.

Williams said the education sector has been hard hit by the pandemic and he acted on the request as it was a worthy venture.

“Anything in my capacity as member of parliament that I can do to bring back some normalcy to the system is important,”he said.

The MP has committed to providing further assistance to the school to supplement the Government’s provision.

Principal Latoya Nesbitt said that the bins would reduce the risk of COVID-19 spread as students would dispose of their garbage by stepping on a lever.

“It is quite a timely donation. It has put us one step closer to being ready for the reopening of school and for meeting the stipulatio­ns of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education,” she said.

Nesbitt said the school is about 70 per cent ready as there are a few areas to be addressed.

“We have identified a space to be the isolation room, and we are hoping that it will be acceptable by the Ministry of Health’s standards,” the principal said.

Face-to-face classes have not been held at Allman Town Primary since schools were shuttered islandwide last year amid the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Since then, the 110 PEP students have been fully engaged online.

 ?? NICHOLAS NUNES/PHOTOGRAPH­ER ?? Kingston Central Member of Parliament Donovan Williams depresses the lever of a step-on bin so Latoya Nesbitt, principal of Allman Town Primary, could dispose of a hand towel. Twenty step-on bins were handed over to the school on Wednesday.
NICHOLAS NUNES/PHOTOGRAPH­ER Kingston Central Member of Parliament Donovan Williams depresses the lever of a step-on bin so Latoya Nesbitt, principal of Allman Town Primary, could dispose of a hand towel. Twenty step-on bins were handed over to the school on Wednesday.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Jamaica