In late 2011, Do Good Jamaica – an independent non-governmental organization founded by Deika and Kassim Morrison (see dogoodjamaica.or/home for more info) – created and soft-launched Crayons Count as a campaign to support early childhood education. We invited the private sector, public sector, non-governmental organizations, foundations, the media, schools, the Diaspora, the international community and the public to support our initiative and movement, Crayons Count.
Why Crayons Count?
It has been proven that the best investment you can make in the life of a child is in the early childhood period – age 0 to 8 years.
According to the 2006, Perry High Scope Study:
“Each US$1 invested in early childhood development yields a cumulative economic return to society of
US$17, a better return than any stock investment with US$12 directly benefiting the public.
Of the public return:
- 88% came from crime savings
- 4% from education
- 7% from increased taxes paid on higher earnings
- 1% from welfare savings”
Crayons Count is an investment in children that is a direct benefit to the society and the economy as a whole. Our two main objectives are to:
- provide recommended learning tools to all early childhood institutions (basic and infant schools) in Jamaica
- increase awareness of the importance of early childhood education and good early childhood practices
We have provided learning tools to early childhood instituitions across Jamaica, conducted teacher workshops, held and participated in numerous events to energize the early childhood education movement.
Explore our website to see more about the history of the Crayons Count campaign, sponsors and partners, achievements, etc.