New Day Primary Outfitted With Computer Centre/CAP

The New Day Primary and Junior High School, in Kingston, has been outfitted with a newly refurbished computer centre valued at $3.7 million, through the Universal Service Fund (USF).

It will serve as a Research and Remedial Education Centre and a Community Access Point (CAP), to cater to members of the school as well as the Grants Pen area, where the school is located.

The centre has been equipped with 20 new computers and workstations, monitors, keyboards, printers, one projector as well as a server for Internet access.

In his address at the opening on June 24, Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, said the project is part of an important initiative by the Government to ensure that all citizens have access to information technology (IT).

“The facility has the right environment for people to access and perform all the desired research functions,” the Minister said.

He informed that the school will have free Internet access as the USF will also undertake to pay for the service.

Meanwhile, Member of Parliament for North Eastern St. Andrew, Delroy Chuck, encouraged both teachers and students to make good use of the computers to keep pace with their counterparts in other technologically advanced societies.

“We cannot allow ourselves to fall behind the rest of the world. Before long, paper will be non-existent. It will soon be a paperless society, so it will be the smartphone or your computer with which you communicate,” he noted.

For his part, Chief Executive Officer of the USF, Hugh Cross, said that the organisation is delighted to have been able to give support to the initiative.

“We have a passion for education and we provide persons with the requisite tools for personal and national development. We want to ensure that they have access to the world of information and development possibilities that this facility can offer,” he added.

Mr. Cross emphasised that the USF is committed to ensuring that persons from every segment of society have adequate access to IT.