Just over 160 computers have been donated to 13 primary and high schools in St. James to enable needy students to access online learning.
The 138 tablets and 25 laptops were provided through a partnership between the Atlanta-Montego Bay Sister Cities Committee and the Victoria House Foundation, in collaboration with the Adelphi Community Development Council (CDC).
The devices were presented to representatives of the beneficiary schools during a ceremony at the Holiday Inn Resort and Spa in St. James on Friday (October 8), which was attended by Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett.
He thanked the Committee and Foundation for their gesture, noting that the provisions will serve as tools that aid in building the nation’s human capital and repositioning Jamaica “to become competitive in this new world [of technology].”
Mr. Bartlett encouraged the institutions to use the devices to “enhance the knowledge of our children and make our country a strong and powerful nation.”
Atlanta-Montego Bay Sister Cities Committee Chair, Dr. Yvonne Smith, told JIS News that the need for virtual classes “is now greater than ever”, based on the restriction of face-to-face learning due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“The children [who will benefit from the devices] have already been identified [at the] schools, based on the need,” she informed.
Dr. Smith, who urged the children to take care of the devices, encouraged the schools to distribute them on a “loan basis” where students will be allowed to use the laptops and tablets for a full academic year before returning them.
“They will turn the [devices] in and then the schools can decide the following year, who [else] needs [them],” she stated.
Dr. Smith said this arrangement is expected to instill a sense of accountability and responsibility in the children, “because when they know that they have to return these devices at the end of the year, they are going to be more careful in how they handle and use them.”
She maintained that prudent use of the devices would result in similar provisions being extended to other schools and students in western Jamaica.
