Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Science & Technology (with Energy)

		PRINT THIS			SEND TO A FRIEND

Beginning September this year, some 31 institutions islandwide will benefit from equipment and instructional materials to be provided by the e-Learning Company Jamaica Limited (e-LJAM), a portfolio agency of the Ministry of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce (MITEC).

This information is included in a Ministry Paper tabled in the House on June 20, by Minister of Industry, Technology, Energy and Commerce, Phillip Paulwell, during his contribution to the 2006/07 Sectoral Debate.

Phase one of the initiative, which will run from September 2006 to June 2007, will target the subject areas of English Language, Mathematics, Chemistry, Biology and Information Technology and is a co-venture between MITEC and the Ministry of Education and Youth. The initiative will focus on 27 public high schools, one independent high school and three teachers' colleges at a cost of more than US$50 million.

In addition to the provision of learning aids, the Paper states that the project is geared at teacher training and the development of instructional materials to assist in the teaching process.

A pilot project, which preceded the actual project, is currently underway among grades 10 and 11 teachers, who will receive certification at the end of a training programme that will commence in the summer holidays of 2006. Some 2,000 teachers are expected to be trained by the end of phase one. Work on Remedial and Assessment programmes is also underway in the pilot phase of the project.

On the acquisition and development of teaching aids, the Ministry Paper says the project will seek to address weak areas, which have been identified by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) reports over the years.

Also outlined in the paper, is the provision that teachers who will be trained under the e-LJAM project will compile a question databank, based on the five subjects to be targeted, and these will be used in preparation for major examinations. Question writing has already commenced, and it is expected that some 12,000 questions are to be made available to students by January 2007.

Online teaching facilities, Compact Disks (CDs) and Digital Video Disks (DVDs) as well as video lectures are to be made available by September 2006 and an overall evaluation, which will inform the second phase of the project, will be conducted in September 2007, two months after the project's completion date.

The Ministry Paper also states that e-LJAM is now focused on the awarding of contracts for supplying computers and teaching equipment, and that bidding closed on June 8. This is to enable the pilot schools to have modern technologies by the start of the September 2006 school year.

		PRINT THIS			SEND TO A FRIEND