Laptops will be given to every Form 1 student during this academic year.
Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, and Minister of Education, Dr. Michael Dowlath, made the promise during an engagement at the Signal Hill Secondary School in Tobago on Tuesday.
Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar urged the students to use the devices responsibly.
“For 10 years, no laptops were given and you were left in the COVID devoid of that learning. Let us make sure that never ever happens again. By the time I left office 2010 to 2015, every Secondary School child Form 1 to 5, every single one had a laptop. You know, sometimes I walk over and children come to me and say, ‘Prime Minister, this is a laptop you gave me how many years ago.’ and they say, ‘look, it’s still working.'”
Minister Dowlath noted that the Digital Learning Initiative, which includes giving the digital devices to all Form 1 students, will ensure that Tobago’s students are poised to benefit from a future-ready and accountable education system.
“Nine Secondary Schools, 964 Form 1 students, Prime Minister, will soon receive an investment with their laptops for digital learning. Schools are presently benefitting from an upgrade of their infrastructure, their broadband wireless internet. Tobago teachers have been trained in AI, digital literacy, and cyber security, strengthening classroom innovation. The Police in Schools programme now enhances safety, mentoring and discipline across this island.”