KINGSTOWN, St Vincent - Officials from St Vincent and the Grenadines' National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC), the Telecommunications Department, Ministry of Education and regional telecoms provider LIME (formerly Cable and Wireless) signed the Universal Service Fund (USF) Contract Document on Tuesday.

NTRC Chairman, Sehon Marshall, said that he was proud to be a part of the document signing which signaled the provision of Internet access to educational institutions.

According to Marshall, Internet access in these institutions is in context with the "one laptop per child" initiative. He also said that the Internet is a tool that must be recognized for its importance in the world.

The installation and maintenance of hardware software and internet connectivity at 107 educational institutions throughout St Vincent and the Grenadines is the culmination of two years of planning by the NTRC, stated USF administrator, Kyron Duncan. He said that two bids were received from local Internet serve providers and that LIME was awarded a five-year contract to provide the 107 educational institutions with internet connectivity at a cost of $5,230,623. Duncan also said that LIME is responsible for the maintenance of the network.

LIME country manager, Angus Steele, said that this will contribute to make the nation an information communications technologies (ICTs) centre of excellence. Steele also said that LIME supports the "one laptop per child" initiative and that it will create highly skilled and employable young adults, locally and regionally.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Nicole Bonadie-Baker, said that training will continue for teachers for them to become familiar with using the technology. She said that by June 10 all netbooks will be delivered to pupils of grades 2-5 in all schools. Bonadie-Baker acknowledged that with the use of the Internet there is the need to protect the children from accessing undesirable material; therefore a content management committee will be established.

Director of Telecommunications, Science and Technology, Dr Jerrol Thompson, reiterated the concern of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education pertaining to filtering violent and pornographic content. He said that LIME will need to filter such content. Thompson also said when parents are trained to use technology they will have better oversight in managing their children's usage of the netbooks.

source link: http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/svg.php?news_id=6602&start=0&category_id=15