Gov’t Targeting Increased Use of Technology in Education

The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information is moving to optimise schools’ outputs through greater use of information and communications technology (ICT) in teaching.

Portfolio Minister, Senator the Hon. Ruel Reid, says the Ministry and its stakeholder partners are exploring several options to ensure that trainee teachers are equipped with computer skills as part of their core competencies.

He was speaking at the Teachers Colleges of Jamaica (TCJ) professional development workshop at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, on Wednesday, August 30.

Noting concerns from several school Principals about the limited knowledge of technology of some trainee teachers, Senator Reid said the Ministry planned to rectify this by incorporating ICT in the colleges’ training programmes to facilitate its use in the preparation of lesson plans, delivery of lectures and general administration.

Senator Reid reiterated the Government’s commitment to repositioning Jamaica on the cutting edge of technology, particularly in education, to meet the growing demand for technology skills in business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing and engineering.

The two-day workshop, which was held from August 29 to 30, is staged at the start of each semester and targets administrators from the country’s eight teacher-training institutions, who meet for professional development training and discussions on issues impacting education.

The institutions include Bethlehem Moravian College, Catholic College of Mandeville, Church Teachers’ College, Moneague College, St. Joseph’s Teachers’ College, Shortwood Teachers’ College, Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College, and The Mico University College.

The workshop was staged in collaboration with the Joint Board of Teacher Education, University of the West Indies (UWI).