25,000 Jamaican Teachers to receive Tablet Computers. Courtesy of the USF


Minister of Finance Dr. Nigel Clarke (left).Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Fayval Williams (centre) and Minister of state in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Alando Terrelonge, during the presentation of $700 million to e-Learning Jamaica by the USF. 
In a Covid- 19 staged press conference on the 6th May 2020 - where masks were worn and social distancing observed - the Universal Service Fund, an agency of the Ministry of Science, announced the handing over of $ 700 Jamaica million dollars to e-Learning. This sum of money will fund the Tablet for Teachers Programme and will directly benefit 25,000 public school teachers across Jamaica within the next two months. The high-profile ceremony, broadcast live and held at the PCJ auditorium, was attended by several Government officials, high representatives from the USF, and eLearning, the procuring agency.

The tablet computers will assist teachers to deliver content and lessons in a virtual environment.  The delivery of these handheld computers is timely, especially since the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has transformed the teaching/learning atmosphere. The Tablets for Teachers Programme is part of an agreement between the Government and the Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) to provide each teacher in public schools with a 10-inch tablet computer as part of their compensation package. 

CEO of e-Learning Jamaica, Keith Smith, in his delivery said the Postal Corporation of Jamaica will assist with the distribution of the devices, which should be completed over the next two months.

At the official handing-over ceremony, a delighted Minister of Science, Energy and Technology, Fayval Williams, said distribution of the devices has already commenced and that she was happy to deliver on the promise made by the Government to the teachers. The Government, she said, is strengthening efforts to equip teachers and students with digital skills which will foster innovation, adding that the programme is essential as COVID-19 has shifted the teaching and learning experience and has pushed more teaching and learning online. “The world as we know it has changed. Therefore, the time has come for us to build the capacity of all the people. We are making the right moves to increase information communication technology (ICT) in schools and this financial support to the Tablets to Teachers project is testament.”

During his eloquent  presentation , the  Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Alando Terrelonge, said that distribution of the tablets will assist in ensuring that the education system is not disrupted, although aspects of the teaching and learning environment have shifted. “The gift of a tablet is an essential part of the learning tool,” the State Minister explained.

 For his part, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr Nigel Clarke, said the Government remains committed to delivering promises made; the devices are essential in the Government's drive to becoming a digital society while enabling connectivity. “The timing of the delivery of these tablets could not be better, in that they will enable teachers to accelerate our advancement in this new sort of world.”

Chairperson of the Universal Service Fund, Dr Gunjan ManSingh, spoke with foresight. She said investment in education is an investment in the future. She said that Jamaica will have to keep pace with the demands of the third and fourth revolution and that equipping our learning institutions was a step in the right direction as the country will have to keep up with their external counterparts.

 In his remarks, the host and Chief Executive Officer of Universal Service Fund, Daniel Dawes, said he is looking forward to the positive impact the devices will have in the virtual and physical classrooms. “This disbursement is one more way to enable us to be producers rather than consumers." He further explained that the disbursement of tablets falls within the 11-year arrangement between the USF and e-learning Jamaica for the financing of projects to ensure the dissemination of tablet computers to students and teachers at the infant, primary and secondary levels.


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