Tyrone Reid, Staff ReporterMembers of the team from the Wolmer's High School for Boys, who entered the Access to Information (ATI) Students' Challenge, have their hands full with the issues they are investigating.
The team wants to win but recognises that learning is more fundamental.
The National Heroes' Circle-based institution has three different organisations under its probing microscope, in pursuit of answers to four separate issues.
Nicole Barton, a teacher of communication studies, English language and literature, is mentoring the Wolmerian team, which comprises three sixth formers and a fifth former. The team members are Wmoloki McPherson, Francois Douglas, Ossain Knight and Fabian Barracks, the lone fifth form student. The three agencies that were served with requests were the Ministry of Education, the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and the National Works Agency (NWA).
The students are interested in finding out from the Education Ministry, the number of teachers in their zone who are qualified to teach at the level they are plying their trade.
Additionally, the KSAC was asked to furnish documents detailing the job descriptions for both the Mayor of Kingston because of his popularity or notoriety, whichever you please and the City Engineer. Lastly, the NWA was asked to supply documents that would reveal why the residents of Portmore are being asked to pay a toll, and why was the toll road built through Portmore in the first place. They are also seeking details of plans in the pipeline to fix the Yallahs ford.
enhanced knowledge base
Miss Barton, who said she has found the exercise interesting, opined that students' participation in the competition has enhanced their knowledge base. "Definitely, it has sparked an interest in citizenship, as well as governance," she said.
Francois Douglas, a lower-sixth form student studying the arts, said he was drawn to the competition because the information gleaned about the nature of ATI Act through the mass media aroused his interest. "I was curious about what the act was about, plus I wanted to get information from the government that was not readily available," he said.
Miss Barton told The Sunday Gleaner that her group has received most of the information requested. However, they are yet to receive the mayor's job description, and the information regarding the Yallahs ford.
