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LOGGIN IN: Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is shown the inner workings of Form One Penal Secondary School student Caleb Gomes' laptop during a distribution ceremony at the school on Thursday. - Photos by Innis FrancisPrime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the future of TT lies in the laptop computers being provided to Form One students in secondary schools. She made this comment when she addressed a laptop distribution ceremony at Penal Secondary School on November 27.
She recalled TT's first prime minister Dr Eric Williams saying the nation's future was in the bookbags of students. "I say to you, the future of our country is in the laptops in the bookbags."
Persad-Bissessar recalled her early experiences with computers when they were huge mainframes.
Happy Debe Secondary School students position themselves for a group photo with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar on Thursday.
She was amazed by how advanced they have become now and urged students to use the laptops well as they are the digital window to the world.
She thanked Health Minister Dr Lackram Bodoe for bringing a note to cabinet on reduction of sugar in beverages served to students. The same initiative was advanced by Bodoe's predecessor Terrence Deyalsingh.
Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath, seated at centre, examines the AI component in the laptops which were distributed on Thursday to Form One students of Penal Secondary School. PHOTO BY INNIS FRANCIS - Innis Francis
The Education Ministry has ordered 18,000 laptops, with accessories, which will cost approximately $135 million – $7,500 per device with accessories.
In his earlier address, Education Minister Dr Michael Dowlath said the laptops will come with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. He said 2,500 laptops have already been received by the ministry and another 8,500 should arrive early next month.
WAITING PATIENTLY: Students of Penal Secondary School wait for the start of the laptop distribution ceremony on Thursday at the school's auditorium which was delayed by about two hours.
Dowlath said this initiative was the continuation of the laptop programme which Persad-Bissessar began in her first administration (2010-2015). He said there was a technological explosion then which was interrupted for ten years under the former PNM administration. "We have restarted the technological revolution."
A total of 168 students received laptops on November 27. Dowlath said Cabinet recently approved a note from the ministry to improve Wi-Fi capabilities in primary and secondary schools.
During the ceremony, the AI component on the laptops was demonstrated to the audience. Education Ministry officials indicated the AI operates under strict protocols and there is no possibility of it being able to be used for anything outside of its core functions of teaching Mathematics and English Language.
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