Big BOOST for STEEM

Excerpt from the Jamaica Observer column published Monday, May 03, 2021

By Jean Lowrie-Chin

We could listen to these cases and lose hope, but then along comes Gary “Butch” Hendrickson, who takes them as challenges. Last Tuesday the National Baking Company chairman announced a $159 million sponsorship of the Building out our STEM Teachers (BOOST) Programme. Noting that the World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report ranked Jamaica at 73rd out of 137 countries in terms of the quality of science and mathematics education, the company’s foundation, chaired by Brian Jardim, has entered into a “back-end incentivised scholarship scheme” with The University of the West Indies (UWI). Minna Israel, special advisor to The UWI vice chancellor, has played a dynamic role in spearheading this programme.

For each of the next six years a new cohort of National Baking Company fellows, representing the best science and education graduates from The UWI, will be placed in high schools to teach STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects. The fellows will receive a scholarship equivalent to the cost of one year of their university tuition for each year they spend in the programme, up to three years, and a further incentive payment for excellent performance. Fellows will also benefit from specially designed mentorship schemes, summer training, outreach programmes, and networking opportunities. The Mico University College is a collaborating partner on the programme, which has the full endorsement of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information.

“The aim of this donation is to literally ‘boost’ Jamaica’s development agenda through improving our competencies in STEM,” noted Butch Hendrickson. “There is a lot of work to be done. A revolving cohort of the best science and maths graduates is one way to increase the number of STEM teachers. This will eventually help to build empowered communities, besides enhancing the capacity of The University of the West Indies to assist and guide young Jamaicans towards a more prosperous future.”