Students at the Xet̓ólacw Community School (XCS) in Mount Currie will soon have newer, faster computers to help support their education. On April 11, the U.K.-based PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is set to donate 70 gently used laptops and 40 portable monitors to XCS.
Securing new computers for students has been a priority of Lil’wat’s director of education Verna Stager for a while. A release from the Lil’wat Nation said she’s thrilled that the problems with the old computers will soon be a distant memory.
“The donation of these computers and monitors from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) really means a lot,” she said. “The state of the old computers was frustrating to both our students and our teachers.”
Approximately 285 students are currently enrolled at XCS, which has provided primary, intermediate, secondary and Ucwalmícwts (the colloquial name for the St̓át̓imcets language) Immersion education to the community since it opened in 1986.
Stager said XCS hadn’t budgeted for replacement computers, which would have saddled the education department with a $250,000 expenditure.
“The money wasn’t there, but the need was,” she said. “The old computers, with their constant glitches and long loading times, were affecting our students’ educations. Having them use poor-performing technology was simply a time-waster.”
To avoid the expense while still securing the equipment for students, Stager reached out to the Lil’wat Business Group (LBG) for help, in the hopes that the business group could leverage its corporate connections. LBG CEO Rosemary Stager reached out to her contacts.
The release said that “within days,” the international accounting and business services firm confirmed it would donate the computers.
“I was very impressed at how quickly PwC responded to this ask,” said Verna. “It means so much to have corporate colleagues that are truly invested in meeting the educational goals of Truth and Reconciliation.
“PwC’s generous donation will be a game-changer for XCS. I am proud to have played a small part in making this happen. It really shows that LBG and PwC share a commitment to community.”
A formal exchange of the donation and a Gifting Ceremony will take place online on April 11.
