Excelerate eases back-to-school burden for many

MORE than 1,000 students across St James, Clarendon, and St Catherine have started the 2026/2027 academic year with added support after receiving financial aid, bursaries, school supplies, medical checks, and other assistance through Excelerate Energy’s annual Back-to-School Financial Aid Programme. Delivered with support from the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce & Industry in St James, with Food For the Poor Jamaica as its non-governmental partner, the initiative helped families manage the rising cost of preparing children for school while ensuring that students with strong academic potential and demonstrated financial need had the resources to continue their education with confidence. The programme provided $10,000 school supply vouchers to approximately 1,200 students, bursaries for approximately 70 students, and free medical examinations for approximately 400 students, along with backpacks, notebooks and other supplies for up to 1,500 students.

Upper-school students received bursaries of up to $50,000 and PEP students up to $25,000, paid directly to their schools to help cover tuition contributions, external examinations and other school-related expenses. For many families, including some still recovering from the effects of Hurricane Melissa which devastated sections of the island last October, the assistance provided timely relief at one of the most financially demanding periods of the year. For Montego Bay parent Dannia Ennis, the assistance came as her family continues to recover from the storm.

“Hurricane Melissa destroyed most of my house, but my father is slowly rebuilding. So, I’m very grateful for this support because it takes a little bit of the stress off, especially because I have more than one child going back to school,” Ennis said. Tiffany Lawson, another parent whose son is entering Grade 6 at Irwin Primary, said the assistance would help her family manage school-related expenses.

“Although we have some setbacks from the hurricane, we’re pulling through and this support will definitely fill a gap,” Lawson said. For Simone Cummings, whose child attends Old Harbour Bay Primary and Junior High, the assistance meant her child could return to school prepared and included. “This support means a lot to me, especially since books are so expensive.

Many parents are not able to afford it and with this help, the children do not have to feel left out…