THE JAMAICA Computer Society Education Foundation (JCSEF) will start a project in September aimed at attracting the support of Jamaicans overseas to help boost the use of technology in local education programmes.
Executive director, Avrill Crawford, said overseas Jamaicans would be asked to donate technological know-how, software, money or computers through a variety of means, including the Internet.
"The programme will bring not only computers and funds into our schools but will link individuals overseas with their schools in a very real way as the technology itself would facilitate the transfer of know-how and expertise," said Mrs. Crawford at Thursday's media presentation ceremony at JCSEF, Belmont Road, Kingston.
She told media representatives that the project aimed to locate and link with Jamaicans living in London, Washington, New York, Toronto and Ottawa and that in September, the launch would kick off with a teleconference between the
five targeted locations.
The Foundation is already working with Jamaican embassies and high commissions as well as alumnae associations locally, offering services in technology planning, installation and maintenance, teacher training and community integration. In addition, the JCSEF, has asked various banking institutions to provide special accounts for contributions on the Internet.
The Foundation's plans have prompted concerns that the project could open a flood gate to people sending "inappropriate computers" to Jamaica. In response, Mrs. Crawford said the Foundation would ask for specifics on the computers being sent or would outline certain requirements to the donors because.
The JCSEF said it was confident these contacts would assist local efforts to further the work being done in secondary schools and to introduce technology in more than 700 primary schools islandwide. It would also help to deliver training in technology, especially as a tool of instructional delivery to 20,000 teachers, the executive director added.
Mrs. Crawford urged media houses to support the project by promoting it as well as by allowing the Foundation to establish a "hyper-link" with their web sites.
The programme is the latest in a series of partnerships involving various sectors in Jamaica and overseas including the media, the business community and international aid organisations like the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Canadian International Development Agency.
These partnerships have resulted in a number of successful projects including the equipping of schools with computer laboratories and in widescale training of teachers and lab technicians in how to use the technology in the teaching/learning environment as well as how to maintain the lab.
Among these were Jamaica 2000 project, where of the 166 tertiary and secondary institutions that were targeted by the project to have some technology by end of 2000, only 25 remained without implementation. Government, through HEART/NTA, has also contributed over 50 per cent of the $220 million spent on the Jamaica 2000 Secondary school programme, the JCSEF reported.
In addition, about 44 primary schools have been outfitted with computer laboratories through contributions from CIDA, local members of parliament and US$1.5 million in funding from the IDB and World Bank to the EDTECH 20/20 primary school project.
During the ceremony, the Foundation recognised 10 media houses which, it said, had contributed significantly to the promotion of knowledge and use of technology. Among them was The Gleaner which was awarded for being among the first "to come fully on board" as a media partner for Technology in Education.
The Gleaner was also recognised for its continued support of the programme through an essay writing competition on technological aspects that could benefit Jamaica and through its provision of "exceptional" news coverage and reporting of education technology matters.
