Over 100,000 tablets to be distributed to students in Jamaica, says education minister

Kingston, Jamaica: Minister of education, youth and information Fayval Williams, urged the citizens of Jamaica to stick to prevention protocols of COVOD-19 to contain the outbreak so that the face-to-face classes can resume, which ought not to be endangered.

Williams, during an address at Seaforth Primary School in St Thomas following the presentation of tablet computers, said that responsibility of reducing the risk of COVID-19 should be kept in mind while the citizens enjoy the Christmas holidays.

She stated that “We are asking, over the Christmas holidays, persons consider our students because if we have a COVID-filled Christmas and we see the numbers increasing in January, schools are not going to be ready to go back to face to face. So everybody has a responsibility.”

Williams also mentioned that starting February 23, 2021, stress on the various scheduled examinations is recommended to the administrations of primary and high schools.

Parental and community support is needed alongside the interventions of ministry to minimize the effect of COVID-19 in order to get the students in the mindset to meet the exams.

“I am calling on all Jamaicans to give our students a push in encouragement and pray for them. We have been doing a lot of work to ensure that our schools are physically ready,” Williams stated.

She urged needful schools and parents to seek additional help from the ministry, hoping to resolve the imminent issues.

Distribution of approximately 938 tablets has been done in Western St Thomas’s primary schools. 

Williams mentioned to the participants in the presentation ceremony that as the 2020/21 academic year ends, over 100,000 tablets will be issued to schools islandwide.

“We are going to change the course of history in Jamaica, and make our students’ technology savvy,” said Williams, and appreciated the private institutions supporting the ministry’s ambition to provide computers to schools.