CARIMAC Times 2016: The JREAM Edition Journalists Reviving Awareness of what Matters | Page 75

come to school with the required learning
materials ... You will find that students don’t
attend school as regular as they ought to. And
you will also find that students don’t perform as
well, given they don’t have the right nutritional
needs in order to enhance their education,”
Mahabeer said.
Moncrieffe sends her son to extra lessons at
Mona Heights Primary at a cost of $700 for
four days. She does it because she is usually
not around to help him.
Finson told CARIMAC Times that he wants to
attend Jamaica College, which is located on Old
Hope Road in Mona because “it is the better
school”. However, for his mother, it is the bus
fare cost that is important in deciding which
school he attends.
“Mi want him pass for a school where ‘im tek
only one bus guh and one come back home,”
Moncrieffe reasoned.
Meanwhile, Finson said he wants to become a
pilot or a soldier.
Harrison said being born into a low-income
family does not necessarily affect a person’s
chance of breaking the cycle of poverty. It all
depends on their personality, temperament
and what the person wants to achieve in life.
She gave examples of students who are from
low-income families who attend the UWI and
work relentlessly to better their lives. One case
speaks of a student in the medical sciences who
has received a scholarship. She works full-time
and is a full-time student. That student also
sends her younger brother to school, and takes

care of her mother and other family members.
The caveat is that she does not get enough
sleep because of work and school. But she still
manages to push forward.
“There are cases where the resilience factor is
so strong that the child says, ‘Listen, I know I
am not gonna be poor always. I am not gonna
stay here,’ and so this child does well because
this child is internally motivated to do well,”
Harrison continued.
Phang’s son, Mitchell is in the second grade.
She describes him as a very shy child and, as
a result, he does not participate in class, or
school activities. However, she said he is doing
well in school.
“I don’t see what he doesn’t know. He is not slow;
very quick on things,” Phang beamed.
Her face reflected the pride she felt as he
advised that his school average is 88 per cent.
Two years ago she gave him a tablet for his
birthday. She said she wants him to use it for
school and his own enjoyment.
“Mi buy it because like wen ‘im get projects and
all those things, I can go on it and look up it.
And sometimes wen ‘im get a word and don’t
know di meaning, ‘im can just Google it and find
what’s the meaning of the word and so forth.
He is a child like dat enuh. If ‘im see a word an
don’t know it, ‘im is like ‘mom, mommy what
is the meaning of dat word, or wat dat word
mean?’” Phang explained.
She noted that shortly after she bought him
the tablet, she installed the Internet at home.

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