Smart rooms to help boost delivery of Social Studies and English Language for Hinterland students

Director of NCERD, Mrs. Quenita Walrond-Lewis and Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson (centre) examine the smart room at NCERD along with Deputy Chief Education Officer (Amerindian and Hinterland Education Development), Mr. Marti DeSouza

Following a meeting last Thursday where the Chief Education Officer (CEO), Dr. Marcel Hutson met with several Social Studies and Science teachers to discuss the use of smart rooms to facilitate online reinforcement in the areas of English Language and Social Studies for learners in the hinterland and riverine communities, the CEO visited two smart rooms in Georgetown today that will facilitate this initiative.

The smart rooms are located at Queen’s College and the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD). Accompanying the CEO on the visit were the Deputy Chief Education Officer (Amerindian and Hinterland Education Development), Mr. Marti DeSouza and Mr. Kerwin Jacobs, Technical Facilitator to the CEO.

According to Dr. Hutson, the initiative will see lessons in these subject areas being delivered virtually to students in Regions one, seven, eight, nine and those in riverine communities. He said that this will tremendously impact the lives of children in these communities, particularly at this time.

Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson and team meeting Headteacher of Queen’s College Ms. Jackie Ralph during today’s visit

The smart rooms will be equipped with equipment such as smart boards, microphone, cameras and all the necessary accessories to ensure effective communication between teachers on the coast and the students in the hinterland communities.

This initiative will serve to address one of the major challenges the Ministry of Education is targeting which is the disparity in the quality of education delivered on the coast when compared to what obtains in the hinterland and riverine schools.

A section of the smart room in Queen’s College

During the visits, the CEO and team met with the Headteacher of Queen’s College Ms. Jackie Ralph and the Director of NCERD, Mrs. Quenita Walrond-Lewis to discuss the initiative and to ascertain what more is needed in these facilities to ensure they can function optimally to produce the best outcomes.