China has donated teaching facilities including laptops and tablets to the Caribbean island of Barbados. (Photo : Getty Images)
To boost the educational facilities of Barbados, the eastern Caribbean island has received $5 million worth of donation from China, news portal TeleSur reported.
The donation was received by Ronald Jones, Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, from Chinese envoy Wang Ke last Wednesday during a ceremony held in Barbados.
Caribbean News Now has cited Jones expressing his deep gratitude to China and acknowledging that the country has had "long, cordial and very vibrant relationships with China, its governments over time and its people."
The teaching equipment include a total of 2,500 pairs of desks and chairs, which will be distributed to different schools and educational institutions across the island.
Meanwhile, the 14,000 electronic devices (3,000 desktops with large monitors, 2,000 laptops and 9,000 tablets) will be doled out to the public and private schools covered by the Education Act. These schools must also be registered as a bone fide institution in Barbados.
Other academic centers are eyed to receive part of the donation from China. These include the Barbados Accreditation Council, the Technical Vocational and Educational Training Council, the Barbados Community College, the Media Resource Department, as well as the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic.
Jones noted that the Barbados government will be ensuring that every institution that is linked to education, science or technology will be a recipient of the Chinese donation.
Apart from giving educational boost, China has also been helping Barbados in terms of its military capacities. In December 2016, Wang and Senator Maxine McClean, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, inked an agreement between the People's Liberation Army of China and the Barbados Defence Force. The protocol stated that Barbados will be granted with military aid worth $3 million.
Locally, even the wealthy populace of China has been adamant in donating to boost the education sector. In 2015, data shows that half of donations made in the said year, which amounted to 12.8 billion yuan, was given to higher education institutions.
