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Gov't moves ahead with e-learning project despite US opposition
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Gov't moves ahead with e-learning project despite US opposition
DESPITE strong opposition from authorities in the United States, the Jamaican government is pressing ahead with a US$50-million project that will see teaching being delivered through information and communications technology in nearly 200 educational institutions islandwide.
Some 11,000 teachers are being trained to deliver learning in secondary schools and teacher training colleges under the e-Learning Jamaica (e-Ljam) project, a programme described by two US regulatory bodies as "folly".
The fully bankrolled project, for which 600 teachers have already been certified, will also see a roll out of computer labs equipped with desktop and laptop computers, broadband Internet service, projectors, televisions, and other high-tech tools to the schools and the Ministry of Education over the next two years.
But according to permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications, Dr Jean Dixon, the project has not received the blessing of the US authorities.
She said this was indicated in recent meetings in Washington involving her current minister, Clive Mullings.
"We had meetings with two different US authorities who continue to chide us that this was really folly, and secondly, when is this folly going to stop", Dr Dixon disclosed on Friday.
She did not say which were the authorities involved in the talks or what was their opposition to the project.
However, the programme has been under the scrutiny of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) since 2005.
Funding for e-Ljam is provided by the Universal Access Fund (UAF), which comes from a cess charged on overseas companies for telephone calls terminated in Jamaica.
The permanent secretary said the project "was under threat from external stakeholders who knew they would have to fund the programme".
She recalled that resistance to the programme resulted in a standoff in which overseas calls to Jamaica were shut down for two days.
Dr Dixon said e-Ljam has not only received the thumbs-up by the current regime, but may even be expanded in scope.
"If I am hearing my minister correctly, we are going to the pre-secondary level as well," she said.
She was speaking at a presentation ceremony to teachers trained for e-Ljam at the Mico University College on Friday.
Chairman of e-Ljam Ransford Braham in his overview said the project is being implemented in 186 educational institutions, including all 166 public high schools, six special public schools, eight teachers' colleges that train teachers for high schools, five community colleges and one independent school.
He said a pilot project is underway in 31 institutions, focusing on five subject areas for grades 10 and 11, and will provide ICT-based materials such as teachers' guides, lesson plans and project assignments on various media such as on CDs, DVDs, and the web.
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Gov't moves ahead with e-learning project despite US opposition
DESPITE strong opposition from authorities in the United States, the Jamaican government is pressing ahead with a US$50-million project that will see teaching being delivered through information and communications technology in nearly 200 educational institutions islandwide.
Some 11,000 teachers are being trained to deliver learning in secondary schools and teacher training colleges under the e-Learning Jamaica (e-Ljam) project, a programme described by two US regulatory bodies as "folly".
The fully bankrolled project, for which 600 teachers have already been certified, will also see a roll out of computer labs equipped with desktop and laptop computers, broadband Internet service, projectors, televisions, and other high-tech tools to the schools and the Ministry of Education over the next two years.
But according to permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy, Mining and Telecommunications, Dr Jean Dixon, the project has not received the blessing of the US authorities.
She said this was indicated in recent meetings in Washington involving her current minister, Clive Mullings.
"We had meetings with two different US authorities who continue to chide us that this was really folly, and secondly, when is this folly going to stop", Dr Dixon disclosed on Friday.
She did not say which were the authorities involved in the talks or what was their opposition to the project.
However, the programme has been under the scrutiny of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) since 2005.
Funding for e-Ljam is provided by the Universal Access Fund (UAF), which comes from a cess charged on overseas companies for telephone calls terminated in Jamaica.
The permanent secretary said the project "was under threat from external stakeholders who knew they would have to fund the programme".
She recalled that resistance to the programme resulted in a standoff in which overseas calls to Jamaica were shut down for two days.
Dr Dixon said e-Ljam has not only received the thumbs-up by the current regime, but may even be expanded in scope.
"If I am hearing my minister correctly, we are going to the pre-secondary level as well," she said.
She was speaking at a presentation ceremony to teachers trained for e-Ljam at the Mico University College on Friday.
Chairman of e-Ljam Ransford Braham in his overview said the project is being implemented in 186 educational institutions, including all 166 public high schools, six special public schools, eight teachers' colleges that train teachers for high schools, five community colleges and one independent school.
He said a pilot project is underway in 31 institutions, focusing on five subject areas for grades 10 and 11, and will provide ICT-based materials such as teachers' guides, lesson plans and project assignments on various media such as on CDs, DVDs, and the web.
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