Claude Quinton (right) of the College of Agriculture, Science and Education collects certificates on behalf of the institution from Winston Fletcher, director of enterprise-based training, HEART Trust/NTA, during a ceremony held recently at the St Mary High School in Highgate, St Mary. - Photo by Carl Gilchrist

PORT MARIA, St Mary:

JAMAICA TOOK another step in becoming more technologically advanced with the graduation of 395 teachers, who recently completed a course in information and communication technology (ICT).

The teachers were trained through a course conducted by HEART Trust/NTA under a project by e-Learning Jamaica Company and the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).

The project calls for the training of some 11,000 teachers in ICT, of which 9,000 have been trained so far.

The course involves training in the use of various applications, such as word processing, database manage-ment and spread sheet.

The graduation ceremony, the 10th such since the start of the project, was held recently at the St Mary High School in Highgate, St Mary, and saw teachers drawn from 10 educational institutions in St Mary and Portland receiving their NVQJ certification in ICT.

The institutions included nine high schools - namely Annotto Bay, Fair Prospect, Happy Grove, Islington, Port Antonio, St Mary, St Mary Technical, Tacky, and Titchfield - along with the College of Agriculture, Science and Education.

Director of technology in the Department of Information and Telecommunications (OPM), Gary Campbell, in delivering the address, underscored the importance of ICT in the development of Jamaica.

Basic ict skills needed

According to Campbell, everyone needs basic ICT skills to function effectively in a knowledge-based and technologically advanced society.

"There is a critical need to develop ICT skills and integrate ICT in all professions to increase national productivity. To not have them may lead to marginalisation," Campbell warned.

He added: "Jamaica should continue to work diligently towards the day when ICT is integrated in all educational institutions from the primary level to the tertiary level, all corporate and Government offices, and in most homes, from those in the urban areas to those in the most remote rural communities. We must keep with the spirit of the times and equip ourselves to learn, work, trade and live with the innovations of ICT, which are replacing the traditional ways of doing things."

Good for competition

Director of enterprise-based training at HEART Trust/NTA, Winston Fletcher, in his greetings, also spoke of the importance of ICT.

Fletcher said it was through the application of ICT that people were going to be able to compete and remain relevant in today's society.

He explained that the ICT certification awarded to the teachers is recognised in CARICOM, the Commonwealth and the United States.

He challenged the teachers to be the new leaders in the field of education, especially in the area of ICT.