Cabinet Approves $1.4 Billion for Tablets in Schools

The Government is making good on its promise to roll out the Tablets in Schools pilot project, with Cabinet approving the allocation of $1.4 billion from the Universal Service Fund, to implement the initiative.

Some 25,000 tablets will be issued to students and teachers in 38 schools, ranging from infant departments to special education institutions, and teachers’ colleges, across the island.

Making the announcement at a Jamaica House press briefing on December 18, Information Minister, Senator the Hon. Sandrea Falconer, explained that the project aims to increase the use of technology in order to optimise learning opportunities within and outside of the formal school system.

“Students and teachers, who do not have their own computer devices, are at a disadvantage, due to their inability to access and utilise e-learning resources,” she remarked.

Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell announced the project in his 2013/14 budget presentation in April.

He explained that the schools selected to participate in the pilot are among those that have been assessed and found to be under-performing academically by the Ministry of Education.

Minister Paulwell informed that a team comprising representatives of his Ministry, the Ministry of Education, the E-Learning Jamaica Company and the Universal Service Fund (USF) would be undertaking the project which he said “will fundamentally change the way we approach education in Jamaica”.

The Technology Minister stated that, “technology allows us to break down the old traditional barriers to accessing learning resources, and this administration is going to pilot the removal of all those barriers, to allow every Jamaican child an equal shot at achieving his or her goals”.