Minister of Education Andrew Holness (right) cuts the ribbon to officially open the over $30-million computer lab at the Corinaldi Avenue Primary School. Also in the photo (from left) are major sponsors John Kearney, former chairman of the board of Tryall Fund, and Tony Hart, head of finance and development at the Doctor's Cave Bathing Club, the Reverend Everton Jackson and Minister of Water and Housing Dr Horace Chang

WESTERN BUREAU:

Casually dressed in Bermuda shorts and a polo shirt, Tony Hart looked primed to take on a game of golf at any of Montego Bay's championship golf courses, and his game plan included just that.

His profile states he is retired, and what that means is, "I gave up business, I gave up doing things to earn money, but stayed involved in politics."

Ideally, retirement in this case means Hart, who is credited with promoting the creation of Montego Freeport and chairs the Hart Group of Companies, has retreated, dedicating time to his passion of lifting Jamaica's infant and primary education to its zenith.

Since 2001, he has raised J$30 million keeping the doors open at St Mary's Prep in Montpelier, St James, a school that was meant to be a charity, and financed and raised all the money needed for scholarships and refurbishing of Montpelier College, an Anglican institution which is now closed after operating for six years.

"I then realised that 50 per cent of the people we were interviewing to come into the high school couldn't read, so I came to the conclusion that if we could up primary education in Jamaica, these children could take care of themselves at the secondary level," he said in explaining the closure of the college.

His second realisation, he said, was "If computerisation was the future we had to get computers in schools, so I built a lab at St Mary's Prep and put in 25 computers."

There are twinkles in his eyes and humility in his voice when he speaks of both schools: "Up to this year, three former girls from Montpelier College won fully-paid scholarships to top United States universities, one to Rutgers. These are girls from families with parents who can't read or write."

Today, he is hoisted on a pedestal as a champion by founder and former principal of Montpelier Prep, Patricia Ottey, who speaks of a hero who has made an enormous difference to the institution.

Humanitarian efforts

"He kept it (the school) open when parents could not afford to send their children, and he improved its offerings considerably in terms of the infrastructure."

Not easily sated, one of his greatest achievements is getting others to buy into his humanitarian efforts. He convinced his friend John Kearney to raise funds for Corinaldi Avenue Primary in Montego Bay, and told The Gleaner: "Kearney and the Tryall Fund were lead donors, pumping US$200,000 into building a computer lab valued at US$250,000 at Corinaldi Avenue Primary," not once mentioning he provided the rest of the money.

The state-of-the-art lab has transformed the lives of 3,000 students at the school, and serves the neighbouring Barracks Road Primary and Montego Bay Infant schools.

Aiding and abetting the western end of the island into achieving great heights does not stop in St James, the parish of St Elizabeth made its way on the list.

Treasure Beach's 'Governor' Jason Henzell can attest to this.

Through Hart's intervention, former US Ambassador Sue Cobb and her husband, Chuck, built a school in Treasure Beach.

Minister of Agriculture, Dr Christopher Tufton, is the latest recipient. Come 'September morning', the start of the new school year, the Black River Primary in the minister's constituency will reopen with a spanking new computer room.

Hart has pumped $3.5 million of his own money into the project, matching it with funds from the Doctor's Cave Bathing Club, which was given to the city of Montego Bay by his family.

He said that 1,200 students were to benefit from this project, which was also funded by the NCB Foundation.

"He (Tony) just has this underlying wish to see other people do well," said his son Mark.

Convinced that giving children a strong foundation in the early years is critical, Hart's plan is to computerise one primary school each year.

According to him, if every child in Jamaica became computer literate, every one of them could get a job when the time comes. "We are on the doorstep of the US, and information technology (IT) and in MoBay about 5,000 people are employed in that area."

Because of the lack of skills in IT, he said, investors such as Patrick Casserly was forced to go to Kingston or St Lucia to find trained IT personnel.

"The beauty about IT is the staff earns double the amount they earned at the 807 factories, where the wages were low. Go into the IT companies today and you can't even get a parking spot because everyone has a car, they have pride, they have addresses."

After-school activities

His next area of concentration, he said, is to look at after-school activities.

"We also need time in these primary schools for an hour after school, because many of these children are going home to parents who can't read and write, parents who can't help them."

He believes the shift system is the worst thing that ever happened to Jamaica, and a school should be a total learning area.

Janet.silvera@gleanerjm.com

Tony Hart's cultural heritage

The Hart family came to Montego Bay in the 1780s. Tony Hart is a seventh-generation Jamaican who attended Munro College from 1941 to 1949. He represented the school in shooting, tennis, football and gymnastics.

Business History

From 1951 through 1982, Tony Hart started a number of companies, including a Ford dealership in Montego Bay. All of his companies, except for Montego Bay Stevedoring, were sold in 1982. The Hart Group was restarted in 1985 and currently employs 2,000 people in the areas of apparel, port management, stevedoring and agriculture.

Tony Hart is married to Sheila (née Desnoes), and they have four children - Wendy, Mark, Bruce and Blaise.

Hart