Dujuan Gordon, a resident of Old Harbour, St Catherine, already has big dreams for his seven-month old son, Dujanie. He wants his son to have better opportunities in life than he had.

One of Gordon's dreams is for his son to get a good education, and he understands the significant role that early-childhood education can play in setting a solid foundation for his son's lifelong learning.

Gordon was one of several members of Jamaica National who demonstrated their support for early-childhood education by participating in a coin collection drive organised by the Dudley Grant Memorial Trust (DGMT), in collaboration with the Jamaica National Building Society (JNBS) at its Half-Way Tree branch recently. The drive is being conducted at all JNBS branches across the island during the month of March to raise funds to sustain early-childhood development programmes.

Infrastructural development

"The trust has always been an advocate of early-childhood education of the highest quality. It provides advice about infra-structural development, and maintenance of standards in early-childhood entities in Jamaica and throughout the Caribbean," Professor Elsa Leo-Rhynie, trust chairperson, explained.

Additionally, the trust collaborates with the Early Childhood Unit in the Ministry of Education on a variety of initiatives relating to early-childhood programmes.

Leo-Rhynie noted that the trust was established two decades ago at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies in recognition of the work of the late educator Dudley Grant, who pioneered the transformation of early-childhood education in Jamaica.

"Early-childhood education requires a lot of investment, far more than what most people assume. This coin-collection drive will provide an opportunity for everyone to make a contribution," said Masie Wint, administrative manager of the DGMT.

"JNBS has been a great support to the trust," she stated. "Earlier this year, they donated six new Hewitt-Packard computers to our office; and we are pleased that they have partnered with us in this effort to raise additional funds to carry out our mandate."

Emile Spence, business development and research executive at JNBS, reiterated the society's support for education, noting that Jamaica National recognised the importance of an effective early-childhood education programme.

"We have seen the results of what early-childhood education can accomplish and, for this reason, we embrace projects such as this one," Spence said, noting that JNBS grants 27 scholarships annually to children who perform well in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Among its accomplishments, the trust revised and piloted the Early-Childhood Curriculum for children up to five years in the 1990s; and conducted studies, which provided invaluable information about the transition from preschool to primary school. In addition, the trust maintains a public-education programme highlighting the role of early-childhood development; and, in so doing, revived the interest of policymakers in the region.

"The country's special focus on early-childhood education is now evident in the expansion of basic schools across the island, mainly due to the early initiatives and advocacy of the trust," Wint maintained.