Editorial: Internet access

The initiative to give primary and secondary school children unlimited access to the Internet during school hours is to be commended.

Under the proposal, 500 primary and secondary schools will be connected to the Internet in the next 18 months. A total of 133 schools have already been connected.

The new arrangement, which is a joint undertaking of the Ministry of Education and Cable and Wireless Jamaica Ltd, replaces an earlier plan to connect schools to the Internet. This was administered by the HEART Trust/ NTA and ran into difficulties because of the cost and a lack of control.

Cable and Wireless has facilitated the new arrangement by granting a special rate which is 50 per cent less than its usual Internet access rate.

We support the sentiments expressed by the Minister of Education, Senator Burchell Whiteman, that there would be better control and more organised use of the system. Exposing our youngsters to the treasure trove of knowledge and information on the Internet will pay rich benefits if it is properly structured.

Cable and Wireless is to be congratulated on providing a less costly Internet rate for the school system. Mr. Gary Barrow, the president of the company, is right in his assertion that the world is being divided between the information rich and the information poor which will in time increase the divide between the developed and developing worlds.

How we use information in this, the Information Age, will help to dictate the pace of our own development.

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