Educators Encouraged to Use More Technology

Education, Youth and Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, is encouraging educators in Jamaica to employ more technology in the teaching and learning process.

Delivering the keynote address at the 2016 EduVision Awards Banquet at the Moon Palace Jamaica Grande Resort in Ocho Rios, St. Ann, on October 27, Minister Reid said the push for the use of more technology in education forms part of the Government’s quest to deliver quality education in every school.

“Quality education at every rung of the education ladder is a key ingredient of our national development plan. Quality education, however, is hardly possible in the 21st Century unless it is supported and grounded in access to, and productive use of information communication technologies (ICTs). No country can walk into the 21st Century confidently without mastering the integration of ICTs in education,” the Minister said.

He pointed out that the Ministry took a deliberate position to include ICT in the crafting of the new National Standards Curriculum for schools.

“The curriculum was piloted in 49 schools across the island during 2015. A major pillar of our new national standardised curriculum is its deliberate and elevated emphasis on the use of ICTs in the teaching and learning process,” Senator Reid said.

He noted that the Government has spent considerable sums of money to bring more ICT into the education system, including the Tablets in Schools programme and the supporting Internet infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the University of the West Indies, (UWI), Senior Education Officer, Keriff Watts; the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA), and educator Avril Crawford, were recognised for their contribution to the development and use of ICT in the education system.