Colin Fagan, Member of Parliament (MP) for South East St Catherine, said a newly created computer lab, equipped with 15 computers, should not be for Waterford Primary School only, but the entire community.

The lab and the equipment cost over $1 million, and is a collaboration among Fagan, Elite Restaurant and the school's parent-teacher association.

Fagan said: "Because there is a facility there (at Waterford Primary), there is no need to build more community centres, schools need to lend themselves to their communities as that's the only way the residents will feel that the school is part of the community." Fagan suggested that young people should be able to access the computer labs after school hours.

He said the donation of five computers to the school's lab is part of the South East St Catherine constituency office's commitment to the information technology programme in Portmore. Fagan also donated five new computers to Edgewater Baptist Church late last year.

On the same day, the school also benefited from an enrichment room, which was spearheaded by Digicel Foundation and the Ministry of Education. The enrichment centre, which is valued at more than $2 million, is equipped to tackle literacy challenges.

The school's principal, Rohan Walker, said that the school has a 74 per cent literacy rate, garnered from a grade-four test set by the education ministry. The resource centre is equipped with laptops and literacy and numeracy programmes.

Dr Michele Meredith of the Education Transformation Project in the education ministry said the enrichment room was designed for students who are reading below or above their grade levels. The room will be in full operation in September. About 280 students will benefit.

There was more good news for the school as David Sterling, a manager for oil firm Chevron, committed $650,000 to the upgrade of the school's library.