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| HP Slate computer The I-Literacy One-to-One laptop computers earmarked for the nation’s high school students are “on their way,” according to Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas. On Tuesday (March 1) Dr. Douglas gave an update on the highly anticipated government pilot project of outfitting high school students with some 6500 free laptops. He said that on Monday night the Minister of Youth and Information Technology, Hon. Glenn Phillip, informed him that the laptops should be in the Federation in the very near future. “Just last night Honorable Glen Phillip told me the first shipment is on its way. It had been delayed by HP (Hewlett Packard), but now it is on its way,” the PM said. Dr. Douglas remains adamant that each high-schooler should have access to Information Communication Technology (ICT), and announced plans to make the project a permanent fixture in the government’s ICT education policy. He intimated that he would be seeking funding for the initiative from the Taiwanese government. “Every single one of them will get a computer. First, we were saying it was going to be a pilot project, but it’s not going to be a pilot anymore; we want it to continue forever. Every single child entering first form after this phase of bringing these computers on board [will get a computer]. “On Saturday, I will go to Taiwan. I will sit with the government officials in Taiwan and I will say, ‘this is the vision of my government, I need your assistance’ – and I will get it,” he informed. Dr. Douglas said investing in the future development of the country through its youth was the correct direction to take, despite the government’s financial challenges. “Investing in the future minds of our people, our country, our young people, is the way to go. Yes, we are challenged, but even though we are challenged we must make investment now so that when this recession eases St. Kitts and Nevis will not be left behind, because our people will be adequately prepared to take our great country forward,” he said. Minister of Education and Information Hon. Nigel Carty has said that the One-to-One laptop project sets the stage to make ICT a cornerstone of the national economy. “The role of education is to train, provide access to explore the world of connectivity, and watch creativity and ingenuity take over. However, it would be the students’ own creativity and natural drive to explore and succeed that would lead them to make inroads into, and leave an indelible mark on the ICT sector,” he said. Government partnered with computer software industry leader Microsoft and computer technology giant Hewlett-Packard to design and outfit the computers to certain specifications. On February 1, HP’s Caribbean Territory Manager Ted Serrano indicated that the first tranche of 1000 computers was to have been shipped to St. Kitts by the end of that month, however The Observer was unable to reach Ministers Phillip or Cary for an update. |
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