Students of three of this island’s special needs institutions now have a bit more hardware to assist with their technologically administered learning programmes, thanks to a collaborative effort between Digicel Barbados and Miss Barbados World delegate, Samantha Gittens.

Digicel recently provided the delegate with three Apple iPads to facilitate a donation to the special annexes of Ellerton Primary, Charles F. Broome Primary and Eagle Hall Primary, as part of the “Tech Steps for the Future” programme, which Samantha has chosen to support in her bid to win the Miss Barbados crown.

In accepting the donation, Samantha explained a little about the project:

“Tech Steps for the Future is a programme focused on raising funds and support for the provision of technology to assist with the education of special needs kids. In many cases these children possess learning disabilities, which are sometimes better handled through the use of technology, for example, speech impediments. I’d like to thank Digicel for agreeing to coming on board and helping to keep the programme going and I am confident that these iPads will be very welcomed by the teachers and students.”

Commercial Director of Digicel (Barbados) Limited, Alex Tasker, commended the Miss World delegate on her choice of project:

“As most persons would be aware, Digicel is very committed to helping special needs children across Barbados. Only just last year we embarked on our own technology based programme to assist with special needs education, by donating tablets to the Ellerton and Erdiston special annexes. We therefore did not hesitate to come on board when Samantha approached us. We hope she continues to champion this movement and wish her the best of luck in this weekend’s pageant.”