Columbus Business Solutions levels the Playing Field for Students
After receiving 60 new Samsung Galaxy 3 tablets from The Aron & Christina Foundation, Class 3 students from St Joseph Primary, St Bernard’s Primary and St Elizabeth Primary were able to go digital last Friday for the new school year.
“This initiative allows children to expand the ways they can present material. It gives students the needed access to technology that they may not have at home,” Aron Truss explained, co-founder of the Aron & Christina Foundation. “We mainly select students in Class 3 as we feel that they are old enough to handle the responsibility of taking care of the table and will have it to assist with the two years of preparations for the Common Entrance Exam. This will give them the capability to work on their own at home.”
The Aron & Christina Foundation created the One Laptop per Child Project for primary schools in Barbados, but specifically targeting schools in the rural areas.
Students from St Joseph Primary School with their tablets from the Aron & Christina Foundation. (Standing in the back Mr. Nicholas Williamson, Christina & Aron Truss, Jaggernauth Dass and MP Dale Marshall)
Mr. Truss thanked Mr. Jaggernauth Dass, vice president of Columbus Business Solutions (CBS), Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, the business arm to Columbus Telecommunications Barbados Limited, for facilitating the purchasing of the Samsung tablets. “CBS greatly assisted us with this purchase enabling these students to have a technological edge in ensuring that these students have a level playing field“. Mr. Truss also thanked Mr. Nicholas Williamson and Ms. Nina Georgiadis for donating the funds which covered the cost for most of the tablets.
Additionally, Member of Parliament for St Joseph, Dale Marshall, who expedited the schools in his constituency to receive the tablets, said “One of the main benefits for these students is close the “digital divide“ in which students with access to the Internet and other technological resources perform better than those without it.”
