Education and Youth Ministry to get 400 Computers

Cabinet yesterday (May 15), approved a $25.5 million (US$390,000) contract to Management Control Systems Limited for the supply of 400 desktop computers to the Ministry of Education and Youth.
Information and Development Minister, Senator Colin Campbell, said the acquisition of the computers would assist in the upgrading process of the Education and Youth Ministry’s information and technology (IT) capacity.
Senator Campbell, who was speaking to journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House, explained that the Ministry of Education and Youth has received $50 million through the Technology Investment Fund, “to commence implementation of activities to upgrade its IT capacity and capability”.
This upgrade, he added, would include infrastructure development, procurement of computer and related equipment, upgrading and implementation of enterprise applications, data cabling, as well as local and wide area networking, training and capacity.
In the past, Mr. Campbell said, the development of the Education and Youth Ministry’s IT capability had been largely supported by aid and loans for specific projects from bilateral and multilateral agencies.
“However,” he noted, “this has contributed to fragmented implementation, as a comprehensive IT framework was not in place to guide the introduction, management and implementation of various systems that have been provided”.
Senator Campbell further pointed out that the unavailability of funds and staffing constraints had previously served to limit the implementation of proposals that were recommended.