The European Union’s (EU) push to digitize Jamaican classrooms has intensified with several of the country’s more prominent social media influencers being engaged to promote this agenda to especially young people.
In a video posted on the European Union in Jamaica Facebeook and Instagram pages on July 29, several of the island’s content creators are seen meeting with officials from the EU for a conversation about the organisation’s “together for tomorrow” initiative.
The social content creators include Evy Royal, Russhaine Berry (Dutty Berry), Kalilah Enriquez, Joan Kenzie, Joel Young Sang and Daindra Harrison, who were all schooled on the EU and Jamaica’s partnership to power digital transformation across the island.
“What we want is [to] increase the awareness of people on what the European Union can bring,” said one of the EU officials who was not identified in the video.
“We believe and we think that talking the language of the young people, it would be the best way to communicate, and you are the ones talking that,” said another EU representative during the meeting.
Some of the content creators bragged during the session about their influence on Jamaicans. The video had secured over 35,800 views in a matter of days.
“Most of my content is geared towards a young audience. The majority of my audience are young audiences and I am really excited to be here and to be partnering with the EU,” said Daindra Harrison, who was the Prime Minister’s Youth Awardee for Excellence in New Media in 2025. Evy Royal was also given a similar award.
The European Commission, Parliament and Council have started using content creators to push their agenda. The new trend has raised ethical concerns regarding transparency and the blending of independent content creation with institutional public relations.
Since the EU meeting, several of the local influencers have posted videos on their individual social media platforms decked in EU branded props and with the organisation’s messaging on the importance of having a digital classroom . All the videos were filmed at the Seaforth High School in St Thomas.
Seaforth High was the first place winner in the 2025 European Union (EU) and Universal Service Fund (USF) ICT Club Short Video Competition. The school’s ICT teacher, Terron Strachan along with four students from the school were given an all-expense-paid trip to Brussels, Belgium. Strachan was also in attendance during the EU’s meeting with the social media influencers and has been featured in the videos posted so far.
In the case of Harrison’s video, groups of students were shown in a classroom all distracted. However, the students all became fully focused when their teacher introduced several technology. Harrison, clad in uniform, had been complaining about the class not being engaging, but immediately she perked up when the teacher started using digital board and educational games.
“POV: The teacher was not getting it.. until technology saved the day.
This is what happens when teaching gets a digital upgrade: engagement, understanding, and students wide awake! This is the digital transformation in the classroom that the EU and Jamaica partnership encourages,” was the post that accompanied her video.
The videos which started rolling out in the past week have already secured thousands of likes and comments lauding the EU’s initiatives, but there are those who are skeptical.
“They will pay them to become propagandist and promote EU values. The more groups involve, the more diluted their authenticity will become. They soon start make content to push agendas…” one person commented.
Many EU countries that had converted to digital classrooms are going back to traditional teaching methods, after realising that their students were under performing after the technological upgrade.
