Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 26, 2020 (SKNIS): Students in St. Kitts and Nevis in need of a technological device to participate in home school learning will receive assistance from the government this week.
During a national address on Monday (May 25, 2020), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, the Honourable Shawn Richards, said that government had taken leadership to leverage all tools, resources, technologies, and services to assist schools to deliver equitable and effective continued education in the home.
“This is being pursued through access to technology and internet connectivity for students who do not have such access,” Honourable Richards stated while acknowledging that a digital device in the hands of every student is a powerful vision.
Equipping students with digital devices is part of an overall strategy by the government, which has been making strides in ICT over the past five years. Deputy Prime Minister Richards said that the capacity of teachers to deliver effective teaching techniques online is essential.
“In support of our teachers, we have secured 400 laptops for loan to teachers who indicated that they were in need of that technological support,” the deputy prime minister added. “Further, we have made provisions to ensure that internet is made available in 700 homes across St. Kitts and Nevis for this critical period where students are away from the regular school setting.”
The Ministry of Education will continue working to achieve goals set out in the Education Sector Strategy 2017-2021. These include ensuring uniform integration of technology in every class; provide time for teacher learning and collaboration; using technology regularly by students for online student collaboration and cooperative learning.
Deputy Prime Minister Richards indicated that the successful transition to ICT integration in instruction and virtual learning rests mainly on teachers; the leadership in the school; access to good professional development; and exposure to new instructional pedagogy to support online teaching and learning.
