St Catherine school to get smart room

The Homestead Primary and Infant School in St Catherine will benefit from the establishment of a smart room, which will enhance science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education for students.

The facility, to be set up through US$60,000 from Digicel Foundation, will be equipped with technology devices such as laptops, tablets and a smart screen. It forms part of the foundation's science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics (STEAM) initiative, which is aimed at helping to bridge the digital divide and provide an advanced learning environment that promotes digital skills and prepares students for the challenges of the future.

Senior Operations Manager at the Digicel Foundation, Jodi-Ann McFarlane, said the entity is on a drive to improve STEM education and has donated mobile science laboratories to schools that have limited space.

"We have realised the great digital divide and the lack of digital resources to meet the demand in this increasingly evolving and globalised world. Therefore, we are establishing smart rooms in primary schools and equipping them with Jamaica's fastest fibre Internet connection," she said, during the recent grant signing ceremony held at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in St Andrew.

Regional Director at the Ministry of Education and Youth, Sophia Forbes Hall, welcomed the support, noting that it will enhance the school's educational offerings.

Principal of Homestead Primary and Infant, Sophia Deer, said that the funds will go a "long way in enhancing our STEM programme", while Chairman of the school board, Mark McLean, said that the establishment of the smart room "will do wonders for the school".

Under its STEAM initiative, the Digicel Foundation will be creating 10 smart rooms in primary schools across rural Jamaica by 2024. The foundation is also installing disability access ramps at institutions across the island, and in St Catherine, has already outfitted McAuley Primary School, the Windsor School of Special Education and Ensom City Primary School.