Marlon Vickerman, Gleaner Writer

With time winding down for the start of the 2006 academic year, 210 students from Admiral Town are expected to get an educational boost from the fifth annual Admiral Town Police Summer Programme, which was officially launched at the community police station on Tuesday.

The programme, slated to end on August 25, will expose children to information technology and computing skills, proficiency courses in mathematics and English, in addition to vocational areas such as embroidery, clothing and textile and art.

Successful initiatives

Hugh Bish, deputy superinten-dent for the Kingston Western Division, said the programme ranked among the successful initiatives behind the move to foster heightened literacy within the communities.

"The programme continues to make strides and prove itself as an immensely beneficial agent to the participants both academically and socially," he said.

Sergeant Robert Taylor, community relations coordinator for the Kingston Western Division, said the programme not only improve the academic standards of the community, but they are paramount in effective community policing and help in nullifying the stigma of brutality and injustice attached to policing inner-city areas.