STUDENT SELLS FACEBOOK ACCESS ...Children abusing Tablets In Schools Programme

Student sells Facebook access

... Children abusing Tablets In Schools Programme

Some high school students, who benefited under the Government-run Tablets In Schools (TIS) Programme, have been using the device to make money.

"There was one young man who had taken the tablet on the corner and was selling services - access to Facebook," Sharon Hay-Webster, advisor to the Minister of Education, said yesterday.

"In other words, he was providing services as an entrepreneur," she added.

The latest of abuse of the programme follows earlier revelation that some secondary school students and their parents were using the devices to access porn sites.

Education minister Ruel Reid is today expected to announce that students will be barred from taking home tablets. The move is aimed at reducing the abuse of the devices.

Approximately 25,000 tablets have been distributed to schools and teachers islandwide under the TIS programme, which was launched in 2014. The programme is aimed at helping to promote learning among students.

Phillip Paulwell, who as minister launched the project, said the evidence indicate that it assisted in learning among primary school students. He said, however, that a the review of the pilot reveals that students and parents were misusing the devices.

"Students were accessing unauthorised sites and parents were taking away the tablets from the students and were using them inadequately," Paulwell said.