Loop News – To further transform Jamaica’s education system, e-Learning Jamaica Company Limited (e-LJAM) partnered with the Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) to roll out coding labs in four primary schools across the island.
The project was carried out as part of the entities’ Labour Day initiative, to integrate science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) education into the public school system and equip students with essential 21st century skills.
The initiative, which benefited Mitchell Town Primary and Infant School in Clarendon, Jessie Ripoll Primary in Kingston, John Rollins Success Primary in St James, and Coopers Hill Primary in Portland, included the installation of interactive panels, laptops, tablets, charging carts, and micro-bit devices to enable students to bring codes to life.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of e-LJAM, Andrew Lee, said that the project goes far beyond hardware distribution. He hopes that the four beneficiaries will become centres of excellence in STEAM education.
“The world that we live in is so much dependent on technology. Helping our students to get involved with coding will not only help them in terms of their critical-thinking skills but also in terms of designing and building applications, so that we are no longer just users or consumers of technology but we become a part of building solutions that can enable Jamaica and the world to be a much better place through the use of technology,” the CEO said.
Lee further noted that this initiative marks the beginning of a national rollout with more schools expected to benefit throughout this financial year.
President of the JTA, Dr Mark Smith, emphasised the importance of embracing the digital era, noting that the focus on primary schools is strategic.
“We must do everything as educators to support the improvement in the quality of learning… and coding forms the groundwork or the foundation of many of the technologies that we now know,” Dr Smith said.
“Many of our primary schools do not have the funding. We hope this can serve as a template where we can see more public-private partnerships,” he said.
Additionally, the initiative includes a strong teacher-training component.
“You cannot talk about integrating technology without talking about building the capacity of our educators. The teachers will drive the integration… and we will ensure that we do in-house training in partnership with respective organisations,” Dr Smith stressed.
