More than 100 printers donated by Usain Bolt Foundation to schools

Fayval Williams, Minister of Education and Youth (third left), and Usain Bolt Foundation Founder, Usain Bolt, (centre), participated in the handover ceremony of an Epson printer to New Providence Primary school Principal Olga Robinson Clarke (third from the right) and Darren Virtue, Board Chairman of the school (second right). The event took place at the school on Tuesday. From left, Leonie Toal, Public Relations and Social Media Manager at Epson Europe, Mary McNulty, and Winsome Wilkins, Chair of the Usain Bolt Foundation are also present.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Primary schools are to benefit from 125 Epson printers donated by the Usain Bolt Foundation to assist in the provision of worksheets and prints from textbooks to students.

The Foundation is part of a two-year partnership agreement with Epson. It is expected that 225 printers will be delivered to schools throughout the island during that period.

On Tuesday, New Providence Primary in Kingston was handed a printer and five rolls of paper.

Fayval Williams (Minister of Education and Youth) praised the donation because it supports an existing agreement with the ministry and Copyright Foundation of Jamaica.

“We actually pay $20 million annually to enable us to copy a certain percentage of textbooks and workbooks in schools. Additionally, I know that all our schools have an administrative office, so this is a useful resource for our schools,” she said.

The ministry’s regional offices will oversee the distribution of the printers to schools across the island.

Meanwhile, Jamaica’s sprint legend and head of the foundation, Usain Bolt, said he remains committed to providing a helping hand as much as possible.

“This is so important to me. Throughout the years, I’ve been through the struggles [and] I understand the need for these things to help education,” he said.

Bolt said that Epson is still in discussions to expand their partnership to supply printers and projectors to additional schools.

“As you know, the Foundation is geared towards early-childhood education, so this is a big help,” he said.

Olga Robinson Clarke, principal of New Providence Primary, said the donation was timely due to the start of a new academic year.

“We are really grateful because we do a lot of printing here for the children who do not have the required texts, so it really is a big benefit to us,” she said

Mary McNulty, Head of Communications and Public Relations at Epson Europe, stated that supporting education will be a core value at Epson.

“Epson shares Usain’s vision of making education accessible to all, and we hope that with this donation of printers it will help the boys and girls of Jamaica have a wonderful education and fulfil their potential,” she said.