Take advantage of technology

We need to take advantage of the fact that we are now living in a digital world and acknowledge all the ways in which these technologies can be used to our advantage.

 

These sentiments came during the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, the Hon. Ronald Jones’ feature address during the Staff Appreciation and Awards Ceremony of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), which was held at the Accra Beach Hotel & Spa recently. 

 

Acknowledging that even CXC has moved to being almost fully digital with regard to the marking of scripts, the minister expressed that he believed that teachers of the region need to learn to acknowledge the fact that we are indeed living in a digital age and make use of this development. 

 

He explained that if something were to happen to an institution that required it to close immediately for two to three weeks, it should not automatically mean that the teaching of the youths comes to a halt. He lamented that children should not stop learning or hearing updates from their teachers if something like that were to happen. 

 

“We are in a digital age. Every child has a tablet, in whatever name those tablets come in, so that even if students are home, the teacher should still be able to provide some means of instruction to those students,” he said.

 

He continued on by saying that he believed that there should not be an expectation where the closing of a school for three to four weeks results in no contact between the student and teacher; and expressed that this expectation confused him. 

 

Without naming any particular institution, Jones expressed that teachers should find a way to continue to prepare the students for their upcoming exams, whether it be the end of year exams, Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) or Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC), rather than just simply enjoying the “so-called break because there has to be some work done at the school”.