e-Learning Jamaica to Distribute More Than 15,000 Computers and Smart Boards to Schools This Year

Fifteen thousand laptop and tablet computers and 900 smart boards will this year be distributed to schools islandwide by e-Learning Jamaica Company Limited.

This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Youth, Skills and Information, Senator Dr. the Hon. Dana Morris Dixon, while delivering the main address during the annual Archbishop Samuel Carter Lecture at Campion College in St. Andrew on Thursday (January 9), under the theme ‘Pursuit of Excellence and Equity in Jamaica’s Secondary Education System’.

Dr. Morris Dixon advised that more than 680 schools have been connected to high-speed broadband under the National Broadband Initiative, with several additional institutions slated to receive connectivity this year.

“These measures, backed by comprehensive training for teachers, would ensure that hardware and software become catalysts for deeper learning rather than idle gadgets collecting dust, and we saw it during [the COVID-19 pandemic]. We pivoted, we used Google Classroom and then, as COVID ended, many schools stopped using the technology,” she said.

The Minister reasoned that technology is one of the most transformative forces shaping modern education, noting that it holds the power to either lessen or widen disparities.

“In Jamaica, where the digital divide between well-resourced and under-resourced institutions and students has often impeded equitable outcomes, harnessing technology responsibly and effectively can dramatically reshape our secondary education landscape,” she said.

Dr. Morris Dixon added that by investing in robust infrastructure, ensuring widespread accessibility to devices and Internet and integrating digital tools thoughtfully into classrooms, Jamaica’s academic standards can be elevated.

She further said this would create a more inclusive system that reaches every student, no matter their socioeconomic background, location or learning requirements.

“But there are impediments that must be faced head-on first before championing technology. We have to do the pre-work to get our institutions ready for that technology. Reliable access to broadband Internet is the bedrock on which all other digital innovations rely, as a smart device is not so smart if it’s not connected to the greatest repository of information we have ever created – the Internet,” Dr. Morris Dixon stated.

e-Learning Jamaica is the agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport responsible for promoting the integration and infusion of technology in the public education system.