Catching them young

The Bermuda International Long-Term Insurers and Reinsurers (BILTIR) has gifted 750 books to P4 students (those in the fourth year of primary school) in all 27 schools across the island. The donations are part of BILTIR’s tenth anniversary and aim to introduce the concepts of probability, risk and actuaries.

The Magic School Bus Takes a Risk was written in collaboration with the American Academy of Actuaries. Students were also invited to join a Zoom presentation, including custom-written probability songs and videos. The event included Taiyana Allen, the recipient of a $30,000 BILTIR scholarship to study data analytics and actuarial science at Georgia State University, who now works as an actuarial analyst at Wilton Re,

Minister of Education Diallo Rabain welcomed the git: “In Bermuda, we have international business partners such as BILTIR who are genuinely committed to helping our communities to thrive and prosper. International business offers fantastic career opportunities for Bermudians. I hope that these books contributed by BILTIR enhance the joy of reading and help to persuade some of these young students to join the industry.”

Amy Ponnampalam, CEO of Athora Life Re Ltd. and chair of BILTIR’s Social Impact Committee, said: “We are delighted to be able to help our school students learn the mathematical skills which will be so important for them throughout their lives. One of BILTIR’s key objectives is to support educational causes in the community, and we hope that some of the students using the book will go on to be the next generation of Bermudian life insurance and reinsurance professionals.”

The book distribution was launched through a live virtual event hosted by Planet Math, a Bermuda-based tutoring service.

“Planet Math was set up to help our school students improve their math skills, and this wonderful donation from BILTIR is a massive contribution to that mission,” said its founder Sergio.