Residents of Bluefields Benefit From Computer Literacy Project

Approximately 400 students, teachers and parents from eight educational institutions in the Bluefields area of Westmoreland, are participating in an information technology project aimed at enhancing computer literacy and promoting sustainable community development.
The project, which celebrates its first anniversary this week, is the brainchild of the Bluefields People’s Community Association (BPCA), which is being sponsored by the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica (EFJ), the Scientific Research Council and the Bluefields Trust, which is a United Kingdom-based charity organization.
During a well-supported open day held on Tuesday (May 10), at the BPCA headquarters, four schools participated in two keenly contested quiz competitions, where they were tested on what they had learnt during the year.
Bluefields Early Childhood Institute won the first match, defeating Whitehouse Basic School by one point and in the progress gaining the P.J Patterson trophy. In the second match, Ferris Primary defeated Mearnsville All Age School, to win the Bob Owens Trophy.
According to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the BPCA, Keith Wedderburn, the inter-school quiz competition was geared towards complementing and enhancing the school curriculum.
“Even though the project is information technology based, the quiz competition was comprised of general school work such as English, Mathematics, Social Studies, Tourism, Science, General Knowledge, the Environment and Information Technology. The level of participation from these students showed the impact the computer learning had on them and how much they had acquired over the period,” he stated.
“It’s telling us that in a few years, these students will be participating at the highest level in the School’s Challenge Quiz on television. Based on the feedback we have been getting since the project started, we are confident that the project is presently doing extremely well and heading in the right direction,” Mr. Wedderburn said.
He further added, “we are also confident that in the near future, we will be having children coming from the areas that will not only be computer literate but will be able to compete with other children because of the impact of their computer experiences”.
Mr. Wedderburn expressed the hope that more people would come on board and offer sponsorship so that the programme could assist a wider cross section of citizens from Westmoreland. Mr. Wedderburn noted that the project was blossoming and had much to offer students and adults alike.
He is therefore urging more persons from the immediate Bluefields community to take advantage of the opportunities offered through the project.