Ninety laptops valued at $100 000 were on Thursday presented to the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training from the Student Revolving Loan Fund (SRLF) during a handover ceremony at the Elsie Payne Complex, Constitution Road, St Michael.
Also during the presentation, Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry, Senator Dr Romel Springer, who welcomed the donation, made an appeal to Barbadians who had benefited from the Fund to repay those loans.
Administrative manager of the SRLF, Ambrose Johnson, said when the idea to assist the Ministry was first suggested, it was readily approved by the board.
“I vividly remember the board saying that the donation should be seen as an investment in our young people. This perspective is consistent with the objectives of the Student Revolving Loan Fund because what we do is to encourage persons to get loans, so, as our tag line says, so they can invest in themselves.
“When we think about charitable donations, we usually think in terms of the private sector, but the fact that as a state-owned enterprise we can donate some 90 laptops, at an approximate cost of $100 000, is testimony to what Government-owned entities can achieve,” he said.
Springer, in relation to loans, said that the aim of the Fund was to provide assistance to Barbadians who wished to further their education to tertiary level but were constrained by limited financial resources, and it could only remain viable and fulfil its mandate, “if those who have benefited from it, honour their moral and legal responsibility of repaying outstanding funds in a timely manner”.
He added that the 90 laptops would assist the Ministry in achieving its goal of providing electronic devices to students from needy households or families.
The devices will be presented later to schools islandwide.
Since its establishment, some 43 years ago, the Student Revolving Loan Fund has approved loans in excess of $325 million, enabling more than 14 000 Barbadian students to pursue a diversity of programmes, in various parts of the world. (BGIS)
