KINGSTON, Sept. 1 (JIS): Hundreds of students attending primary schools in East Kingston and Port Royal are to receive tablet computers in the new school year.
The gadgets are being provided under a $23.8 million back-to-school education programme being implemented in the constituency by Member of Parliament and Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon. Phillip Paulwell.
The money was raised through the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) and with the support of sponsors, Minister Paulwell informed, during a back-to school presentation ceremony recently, at the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) offices in New Kingston.
A total of 700 tablets will be provided, with Windward Road Primary receiving 225; Rollington Town Primary, 180; Elletson Primary and Infant, Norman Gardens Primary and Junior High, and Holy Rosary Primary, 80 each; and Port Royal Primary,
27 tablets.
In addition, presentations will be made to the principals and the top boy and girl in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), from each of the beneficiary institutions.
Minister Paulwell informed that institutions to receive devices are not among those that are currently benefitting under the Government’s Tablets in Schools pilot programme.
Once they are placed on the programme, he said, some of the devices will be redistributed and reallocated to Camperdown High 80; Vauxhall High, 80; and Dunoon High, 80.
He noted that the $1.4 billion tablet in school project has been reaping tremendous benefits thus far, including improved learning as it relates to reading.
“That has given us tremendous encouragement in pointing us to the way forward,” he said.
Minister Paulwell also informed that free WIFI services will be offered at schools in the constituency to ensure that students and community members remain connected to the internet.
“It is an aim of mine to ensure that every single person in East Kingston can have access to internet service and they are not hindered by the cost of so doing,” he said.
In addition to the tablet computers, the back-to-school assistance by the Minister include the distribution of hundreds of book vouchers; and scholarship and tuition support.
