Digicel Foundation Commits US$240,000 for Smart Labs at Three Teacher Training Colleges

Three institutions that prepare teachers signed memoranda of understanding with Digicel Foundation on Friday under the Smart Lab Initiative, opening the way for new or upgraded ICT smart laboratories at each campus. More than US$80,000 is being directed to each school, with the funding aimed at improving digital learning spaces and widening access to technology-supported teaching and learning across Jamaica's tertiary system.

The latest agreements add to a programme that has already placed smart labs in 28 primary schools and five colleges. With these new partnerships, the foundation is extending that effort to more institutions responsible for training educators who will later carry technology into classrooms around the island.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information Dr Kasan Troupe said at the signing ceremony, held at the ministry's Heroes Circle offices, that Digicel Foundation's continued philanthropic support has helped the ministry push further in preparing teachers to use technology in class. She said support for education reflects commitment to Jamaica because the sector develops the human capital needed for the country's economic and social progress. "Here comes Digicel Foundation again, expanding their love for Jamaica, and I say that because once you partner with education, it's a demonstration of your love for Jamaica, because it is the education system that is responsible for the human capital development that will create the economic and social transformation that we desire in this country. So this is true love...this is a true love affair that I, as permanent secretary, I'm extremely proud of," said Troupe.

Troupe pointed to Friday's beneficiaries - Shortwood Teachers' College, GC Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, and Moneague College - and said each institution serves a different niche while placing strong emphasis on the arts. She said the education system has a duty to create the conditions for those talents to grow in ways that can serve different sectors of the country, even as Jamaica works to lift performance in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. "We're not undervaluing the arts in Jamaica. It is what we are good at, whether we sleep or we are awake, but we need to drive the science, we need to drive the technology, we need to drive the engineering and the mathematics, and you can see how we are struggling in those areas."

She added that the Government's wider objective is to produce people with high-level skills in those disciplines, and she argued that investing in teachers' colleges is central to that drive. In her view, when those colleges are strengthened, teachers are better equipped to become champions for technology use, spark young people's curiosity, and encourage ideation, innovation, design thinking and creativity from an early stage through regular exposure to technology.

Troupe also praised Digicel Foundation for backing the country's vision of advancing technology and making sure teachers and learners remain on the cutting edge. She said that when Jamaica celebrates its literacy rate, stronger information technology passes and growth in engineering, those gains can be linked to this sort of investment. She added that future benefits should be seen not only in the physical infrastructure, but also in the wider social and human development of the country.

Ahead of the signing, Digicel Jamaica Foundation CEO Charmaine Daniels said the organisation is eager to see the results that come from the labs once they are in use. She said the foundation is pleased to make the investment and urged the institutions to use the facilities boldly, think in new and inventive ways, and make full use of what is being provided. "We're very happy to make this investment. We know that it will be put to good use, and we look forward to the results. We encourage you, as you get these labs, to utilise [them], dream big, dream of innovative and new ways to use it...We're just providing the base for you, and it's for you to utilise it to make sure that you're maximising on your end. We look forward to handing them over in short order," Daniels said.

The more than US$80,000 being provided to each institution for teacher training and development comes with added support as well: two years of fully funded internet service to power the labs.