The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) presented cash awards valued at ten thousand (10,000) dollars to twenty-eight (28) GSAT students at their annual GSAT Award Luncheon held on Friday August 29, 2014 at The Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.
The event which was dubbed ‘Moving forward in Excellence’, sought to congratulate the awardees who are children of UDC staff members on their performance in the recently held GSAT Examinations. Desmond Malcolm, General Manager of UDC used the occasion to both congratulate and encourage the awardees by reminding them that as they journey to their new schools they should “fear not but move forward in excellence with the support of their parents and the Urban Development Corporation.”
Mr Kevin Powell, Lecturer at the University College of the Caribbean and the guest speaker, continued on the same note of encouragement as he recounted his school years and the challenges he faced; “I was literally told I would not make it, but I was determined to fulfil my God-given purpose”. He further urged the awardees to do their best at their new schools despite how hard things may seem and though they may fall, as he often did, they should follow suit and never stay down but get up again.
The UDC has been making a contribution to the nation’s education sector since 1978, when the Corporation provided social facilities for eight newly developed communities including three infant, three primary and two secondary schools at Naggo Head, Waterford and Bridgeport. The UDC’s involvement with education continued throughout the 80’s and 90‘s under the Comprehensive Rural Township Development Programme (CRTDP) which resulted in the construction and upgrading of several facilities islandwide. The UDC also made a contribution to the education sector in the parish of St. Catherine during 2000 when 1.3 billion was spent to construct 10 schools in a mix of basic, primary and secondary at Angels, McCauley Pen, Chedwin Park, Friendship, Silverstone and Cumberland. During 2002, the UDC collaborated with the Ministry of Education and Culture to implement the North Western School’s Programme which resulted in the construction of 17 schools in the north western end of the island at an approximate cost of J$3.8 billion.
UDC remains committed to making development happen for the people of Jamaica through its planning and implementation of development programmes since 1968.