Concert to benefit students in need

Hundreds of thousands of students in the region are to benefit from the proceeds of a major virtual concert to be held by the ANSA McAL Group of Companies.

Making the announcement on Thursday, Group Chief Executive Officer Anthony Sabga III said the intention was to make remote learning easier for the region’s children.

The two-hour, live-streamed One Caribbean, One Future, One Yard benefit concert is scheduled for Friday, October 30 at 8 p.m. (7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time), and is being produced in association with Ultimate Events Ltd.

Company officials, who indicated that they have already started discussions with the Ministry of Education in Barbados, said they would be providing needy students with electronic devices, as well as assisting several ministries of education in the region with Internet connectivity.

Speaking at the virtual media launch, Tanya Mayers, Director in the Information Technology and Quality Assurance Unit of the Ministry of Education, said Barbados was in need of financial assistance to adequately provide WiFi connectivity and other ICT platforms for about 45 000 students.

“Our major challenge at this time is that we want to provide each school in Barbados with fence-to-fence WiFi access. We are currently working on getting wireless access points and servers for our schools here,” said Mayers.

Sabga gave the assurance that the donations made prior to and on the night of the concert to the One Caribbean Future Fund, which was created by the ANSA McAL Foundation, would be used solely for technology to support home-based learning.

The One Caribbean Future Fund will become operational from Friday, October 23, 2020, through the website www.oneyardcaribbean.com, and will close on Friday, November 13. Donations can be made on the website, by text or payroll deduction.

Officials are yet to give a final tally of the number of students to benefit or the financial target for the concert which will have a line-up of several regional artistes.

In the case of Trinidad and Tobago, over 200 000 children are to benefit. In addition to Internet connectivity, 200 devices are to be distributed to 25 schools in the first instance.

Other countries in which the ANSA McAL Group operates – Guyana, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, and Jamaica – will also benefit.

Highlighting the proverb “it takes a village to raise a child”, Sabga called on individuals and other corporate entities to do what they could to help ensure that the education of children is protected and enhanced as countries continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Education remains one of the key components that brings growth and progress to any society. The more people in society are educated, the more they can provide beneficial contributions to themselves, each other, the communities and the environment,” he said.

“Throughout the Caribbean, this crisis has brought a deeper understanding of the digital divide and related equity gaps, which require urgent attention,” he added.

Sabga said while he was aware that governments, non-governmental organisations and learning institutions were constantly looking at what was needed for the development of the region, he believed there was still need for continued upgrading of skills and programmes to meet the needs of organisations.

The concert can be viewed live on www.oneyardcaribbean.com, on YouTube and on the CNC3 channel.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb