Technology Minister Impressed with Results of Tablets in Schools Pilot

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell, says he is impressed with the initial results from the evaluation of the Tablet in Schools pilot project which, he notes, has resulted in tremendous improvement in literacy at the primary level.

The Minister pointed out that the full evaluation report will be made available to the public shortly.

Mr. Paulwell was speaking at a Teachers’ Appreciation Luncheon, hosted through a joint partnership between the Jamaica Teaching Council (JTC) and Carlong Publishers Ltd., at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, on November 19, to recognise and award exceptional teachers.

The Tablets in Schools programme, which commenced at the start of the 2014/15 academic year, is one of several initiatives being financed under the Universal Service Fund (USF). The pilot phase of the programme came to an end at the close of the academic year. Over 25,000 tablet computers were issued to students and teachers in 38 institutions islandwide.

The University of Technology (UTech) was contracted to conduct a situation analysis and the final draft report was sent to the Ministry in September 2015. In addition, focus group meetings have been held with principals, teachers, students and parents, and an audit of the tablets is currently underway.

Meanwhile, Mr. Paulwell noted that of the 100 tablets which were unaccounted for at the end of the period, the Ministry has managed to recover 50.

“There are some students who, when they left school in June, took their tablets with them and we are tracking those down,” he said.

The Minister said that for the next phase of the programme, the Ministry will be engaging teachers’ colleges to ensure that teachers are equipped to infuse the use of the tablets and other technologies into lessons.

Mr. Paulwell also highlighted the work of the USF in establishing some 235 Computer Access Points (CAPs) across the island.

“We are committed, as a Government, to ensuring that in every nook and cranny, we have these facilities and we intend to do even more, because every single Jamaican must have easy access to the technology,” he said.