In its latest venture Quota International Trinidad and Tobago (Quota TT), has collaborated with Flow Trinidad to support special needs institutions in ensuring no special needs child gets left behind in the virtual world in which we now all live.
In May, through its At Home Internet Service Project the Quota TT whose fundamental core is working with the hearing impaired community as well as creating initiatives to enhance the development of deprived women and children, secured temporary free internet connectivity, at the homes of six hearing-impaired students with the help of Flow Trinidad.
Of the six recipients, four were students from the Cascade Home for the Deaf, one from Audrey Jeffers School for the Deaf in Marbella and a former student from the Cascade School for the Deaf who now attends South East Port-of-Spain Secondary School.
Yoland Agard Simmons, Communications Manager at Flow Trinidad said of the collaboration, “The decision to partner with Quota T&T to assist these young students was an easy yes for us because our goal is really about promoting ICT in education and showcasing the value of e-learning. The fact that these students are hearing-impaired makes our support that much more critical.”
Quota TT’s recently appointed president Jillian Jones-Smith told Guardian Media the initial agreement to have Flow provide three months of free internet access to these students has extended to the end of the year with government’s announcement of prolonged school closure. Jones-Smith said Flow Trinidad was happy to accommodate.
But though the initiative started with the hearing impaired community, Jones-Smith said Quota TT wanted to expand it to include other disadvantaged groups.
It has made some headway in this expansion this year with its three-year-old initiative Quota Cares Back to School Supplies, delivering school supplies last Friday to 300 students in nine special needs institutions and schools. Among them were the St Mary Care Centre, the Princess Elizabeth Centre, Eshe’s Learning Centre, the School for Visually Impaired Children, St Mary’s Children Home and for the first time a children’s home in Tobago.
Prior, only three institutions would have benefited from the initiative— St Dominic’s Home for Children, and both the Audrey Jeffers and Cascade schools for the Deaf.
Jones-Smith said the expansion could not be done however without the help of the National Gas Company (NGC), Unit Trust Corporation (UTC) and Atlantic LNG.
Regarding getting internet services in some of these other schools for special needs children, Jones-Smith said, Flow Trinidad was aware of Quota TT’s intentions, and discussions were ongoing.