Minister of State Julian Robinson (centre), Professor Denise Eldemire Shearer (left), Professor Archibald McDonald, Principal, UWI, Mona, following media launch of Research Days 2014, at the UWI, main campus - Kingston, January 21, 2014 – JIS photo
The Government of Jamaica and the World Bank are collaborating to launch a mobile applications (apps) competition.
Julian Robinson, Minister of State in the Ministry of Science, Technology, Energy & Mining, announced on Tuesday that the competition, to be launched shortly, will be for competitors to develop mobile apps, which can be used on tablet computers which are to be distributed to primary and secondary schools.
Pilot project
Students at 37 schools across Jamaica will have access to those tablet computers in September, through the Tablet in Schools Pilot project.
This was disclosed by Mr. Robinson at the media launch of the University of the West Indies Research Days 2014, at the Mona campus, on January 21.
“The tablets should be here by May or June. We will spend the summer rolling them out to the students and then they’ll be ready for the next school term, which would start in September,” the State Minister told journalists.
During this pilot phase, 30,000 tablets will be distributed to students in primary and secondary schools, to increase the use of technology, and to optimise learning opportunities within and outside of the formal school system.
Broaden horizons
Mr. Robinson added that that the tablet initiative will not only assist students to become technologically savvy, but will broaden their horizons as well.
“We recognise that we have to expose young people to the technology at an earlier age and we believe the technology will facilitate learning and also provide them with an opportunity to have access to a plethora of material. Right now, libraries are constrained by physical space. Once you have the internet, you can do research on just about anything.”
All the schools which are part of the pilot project will be provided with internet access as well, and according to Robinson, the contents of some text books will be downloaded onto the tablet computers “so the students won’t have to buy as many books as they used to.”
In that regard, Mr. Robinson confirmed that discussions were ongoing with publishers about converting their physical books into electronic books.
Under-performing schools
He explained that the schools selected to participate in the pilot projects are among those that have been assessed and deemed, by the Ministry of Education, to be under-performing academically.
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