“I
have decided to focus on primary schools because based on a pilot project we
did, we realized that that's where we get the best results. There are some
issues at the secondary level as we recognise that students are doing other
things”
Minister of Science,
Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell speaking on his decision to
focus on the Primary schools for the Table in School Program
The
Government's Tablet in School Program is pushing ahead as planned.
This
as seven hundred (700) more tablets are to be distributed in the New School
Term in 2016 as noted in the article “Paulwell
Reviews Tablets In Secondary Schools”, Published Friday December 4, 2015, The Jamaica Gleaner.
 |
The
following primary schools in East Kingston and Port Royal are earmarked for the
seven hundred (700) more tablets as follows:
1.
225 for Windward Road Primary
2.
180 for Rollington Town Primary
3.
80 for Elletson Primary and Infant
4.
80 for Norman Gardens Primary
5.
80 for Junior High and Holy Rosary
Primary
6.
27 for Port Royal Primary
These
are the same tablet that had been promised in September 2015 via a JA$23.8 million
back-to-school education programme under the CDF (constituency Developement
Fund) as noted in the article “700
Tablets for Schools in East Kingston and Port Royal”, published September
2, 2015 by Chris Patterson, The Jamaica
Information Service.
This
announcement comes four months after the results of the audit on the Tablet in
Schools program highlighted the problems as well as the benefits of the program
as noted in my blog
article entitled “Audit
of Public Health Care System revealed - How the Minister of Health plans to
correct these problems”.
Minister
Paulwell, who has perused a draft copy of the Audit, has declared that theft
has been extraordinarily low, quote: “A draft of the audit being done was sent
to me yesterday. Separate and apart from that, the level of stolen tablets was
very low. Out of 25,000, I gather that a little over 100 have been stolen. A
number of them have also been recovered. one was even traced back all the way
to Russia”.
Folks,
that less than 0.4%! But with theft levels so low, why the focus on Primary
schools?
Minister Paulwell to
focus on Primary Schools - Why Secondary School Students need the Raspberry Pi
Zero to learn Programming
Apparently
this as a result of the findings from the Tablet in Schools Pilot programs.
Apparently they also noticed that the Primary schools seemed to show the best
results.
According
Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining Phillip Paulwell, the tablet
benefits the primary school boys and girls and improves attendance, with none
of the negative effects quote: “Reading has improved tremendously in addition
to attendance in primary schools, however, we are going to need some time to
think things through in terms of how we deal with the high school students as
they are preoccupied with pornography and other things”.
Those
negative effects seem to be shown by the Secondary School students. These
Secondary School students, instead of seeing the tablet as an opportunity to
learn, use it to access pornography websites.
For
this reason, Minister Paulwell has declared that the Secondary schools will not
be getting any more Tablets under the Table in Schools Program.
Instead,
he'll soon be issuing a RFP (Request for Proposals) to address the issue of
pornography usage among Secondary school students to quote Minister Paulwell:
“As such, I don't believe that it would be wise to expand the programme.
Instead, we have to see how best we can iron things out so as to allow a smooth
process”.
My
suggestion?
Instead
of tablet, the US$5 Raspberry Pi Zero would be a good fit for the Secondary
School students as described in my MICO Wars blog article
entitled “Why
the US$5 Raspberry Pi Zero is perfect Programmer’s Gift for New Year’s 2016”
.
It
has no screen, runs on Linux and can only go online via their HDMI capable
screen or Display. It's mainly a tool to learn programming, making it perfect
for teaching Computing and Information Technology courses but also any other
subject.
This
as it could give all students low cost access to the Internet.
Expect
more Tablets in 2016 the Year of the Monkey, to be going to the Primary schools
in 2016, as the Secondary School have been “monkeying” around on the wrong side
of the Internet on Government owned Tablets! Perhaps it’s time they got a taste
of the Raspberry Pi!!!
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