The Ministry of Education and Youth is reporting that the 173 high schools in Jamaica have all received high-quality laptops to replace aged computers in technology labs.
Portfolio Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, speaking during a post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House on Wednesday (June 28), said 9,298 devices have been issued, with a distribution ratio of 54 per institution.
“That’s an average. Bigger schools will get more, smaller schools will get less,” the Minister pointed out, while noting that technology and infrastructure are major pillars of transformation in the Orlando Patterson Education Transformation report.
Mrs. Williams said each high school in Jamaica, “must give students opportunities to continue their learning about technology, and [the students] must get experience with technology”.
Additionally, she stated that schools must prepare students for the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) electronic testing (e-testing), which will be delivered in the near future.
Meanwhile, the Minister advised that 16,053 e-vouchers have been issued to primary and secondary-school teachers, which are to be redeemed for laptops at approved vendors.
“We will continue our work to get our schools connected with access to the Internet as well. By the end of this fiscal year, we are expecting a little over 600 schools to have broadband connectivity.
The work will continue to ensure there is equity of technology in all of our schools, thus allowing us to significantly reduce, if not eliminate, the digital divide,” Mrs. Williams said.
