TODAY'S EXTRACT IS FROM THE EDITORIAL OF NOVEMBER 22, 2003
...On September 29 The Gleaner, in collaboration with several supporting companies, launched another venture in its long-standing support for education, the Go-Local Schools Competition. Schools are asked to creatively showcase their community in the 'Show Your Community to the World' competition on our Go-Local Jamaica web site. The competition encourages Internet usage, building school web sites, and teamwork.
Norman Manley High has been judged the winning school for October. The school is a newly-upgraded high school in the Maxfield Avenue area... The competition stimulated the school to launch its own information technology club which was named the Go Information Technology Club (GITC). There are only 10 computers but in the hands of an energetic and dedicated teacher working with proud and willing students, the computer lab has become a powerhouse...
Over the last month, Norman Manley has posted more than 30 articles on a range of community-related topics in a highly creative Web setting (www.go-localjamaica.com). Some 30 other schools, which have so far registered for the competition, have each been displaying for the world to see their own creative work involving a good deal of research and high level of organisation.
It no longer needs to be said that information technology is the wave of the future. The future is here, and our schools need all the help and encouragement that they can get to provide their students with IT competence which is as basic as the old three Rs of reading, 'riting and 'rithmetic. Government talks a great deal about equipping schools for IT but the resources are simply not there. Private sector and community assistance on a much larger scale is needed...
