THE COMPUTER is a powerful tool for learning and for communication. 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. Much has been said about the lower performance of this category of secondary school in the CXC examination vis-a-vis the older traditional high schools. Properly used, the computer can be an instrument to enhance performance across the board.
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. According to one GITC member, "The information technology lab has transformed itself from nothing, or almost nothing, to a state-of-the-art technology centre." The lab has become a point of motivation and pride for the school population.
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.
One of the prizes for the monthly winner of the 'Show Your Community to the World' competition is a live broadcast from the school by our co-sponsor Power 106 during the Young Power programme. Norman Manley, the first winner, will be on air on Saturday, November 29 starting at 9 a.m.
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