On The Need For Computers In Secondary Schools In Trinidad and Tobago. (August 13th, 2003)

After the FLOS Caribbean conference, there were a lot of things spoken of - and a few that are being followed through on. One of the ones which is being followed through on is the Computers In Schools project, which I am happy to say I am a part of. As a member of the group, I am completely supportive of it's objectives. It's not often one gets to work with such a multi-talented team.

Discussion on the mailing list as well as real life events have shaped my opinion on how progress should be obtained. The email discussions are a matter of public record, and for brevity I will not include the content here - except for this piece, which is a matter of Ace's urging. That said...

Background: A Brief Introduction to Non-Trinbagonians

Many of the people who read this aren't going to be in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago - in fact, the majority of people won't be, so I'll have to clarify a few things before I get started so that this majority will have a better understanding of what I am writing of.

The education system in Trinidad and Tobago is based on that of England - which is easily explainable, as Trinidad and Tobago was once an English colony. Like most educational systems, there are 3 major levels of education - primary, secondary and tertiary (which, I may add, is at least partially derived from the German system of education).

Here in Trinidad and Tobago, the primary school student must take an examination - the Secondary Education Assesment (SEA) - before entering secondary school (which are sometimes called Colleges, whereas tertiary education is referred to as University).

Secondary school students write Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) and General Certificate of Examination (GCE) Ordinary Levels - commonly referred to as 'O-Levels'.

Upon completion of these 'O-Levels', some students proceed to Advanced Level courses - either CXC, Oxford or Cambridge (which I know of). At the end of these 2 years, they write 'A-Level' examinations, which are a pre-requisite for The University of the West Indies (there is a possibility this may have changed, but I sincerely doubt it). It should be noted that 'A-Levels' aren't always a requirement in entering Universities in the United States.

If these 'A-Level' students make the grade, they go on to the University level - where they go toward their Bachelor's degrees, and subsequent degrees.

There are also technical schools for O-Level and A-Level graduates to attend, which focus on work-related skills.

It's sad that CXC couldn't maintain a domain name - contrast the observations in St. Lucia.

It should also be noted that 'Computer Literacy' is not necessarily 'Computer Science'. The concept is to make all students computer literate, since not everyone wants to have a job within Information Technology (IT) - nor can everyone have a job in IT. However, computer literacy can assist in raising the efficiency of businesses as well as leading to more self sufficiency within the local computer related industry.

Are There Computers In The Schools

The University of the West Indies is well equipped with computers, though it's often thought by staff and students that these computers may be able to be used more and more efficiently. This is not abnormal in an academic institution at this level; in fact, it's quite normal for those interested in such things. Is it on par with the use of computers in other institutions at the same level world wide? Some say yes, some say no - but let's face it. Universities are influenced by businesses more than the students - somewhere along the line, universities became areas where students got 'job skills' (This was not always the case).

So, Universities are supposed to house the best and brightest. They can take care of themselves - and the student body has leverage through their tuition fees, though not much at the University of the West Indies. If the student of lower or even modest income decided s/he doesn't like the courses - where will they go? It's unlikely they will go abroad, and there is no competition. So, there's a need to look at the University level institutions - constant re-evaluation and action based on the evaluation.

Primary schools are the chance to get computers into the hands of children as they prepare for further education and the work place. Computers in primary schools are fairly rare.

Secondary schools typically have computer laboratories, though they are typically used only for students of Computer Science at the Ordinary and Advanced Levels. Computer literacy is not taught outside of the Computer Science curriculum for the most part, and computer laboratories are not as well used as they could be. At one 'prestige' college that I visited, I asked the staff how many hours a day the computer laboratory is used by students. The answer was 1-2 hours/day. How many computer science students are there? 30. How many computers are there? 25. And this is a prestige school. No other students venture into the laboratory.

Technical schools teach skills within the curriculum of the particular class, and as such they have been omitted from the rest of the 'article'. The same applies to the University level, though not for the exact reasoning. Universities have their own resources. Primary and Secondary schools fall under the Government/public's control, and so are important to address.

Where to Start: Secondary Schools First!

Many people believe getting computers into the hands of students is important - and getting them into the hands of young students is even more important. Roblimo said as much as the FLOS Caribbean conference, and the Computers In Schools project had already initiated some things.

But is the primary school the most beneficial place to start in Trinidad and Tobago? It's definitely worthwhile to have primary school students exposed to computers at such an age. But what happens when these students take the SEA, and they move on to secondary schools where computers are not available unless a computer science course is taken?

My contention is that by placing the computers first in primary schools now (without relevant work in the secondary schools), we are creating a problem within the community over the next 5 years which could degrade the progress that placing computers in primary schools is hoped to attain.

Without computers in secondary schools first, the primary school students within the 2 year period of writing their SEA right now will go to secondary schools without computers, or without working computers.

This creates a window of 3 years (3 years of students in secondary schools will not be positively affected by computers in secondary schools), plus 2 years of the present primary school students which is equal to 5 years of students with present computer literacy entering the workplace after Ordinary Level/Advanced Level examinations. The majority do not attend University; that is an accepted fact.

However, implementation within secondary schools now catches the 2 year window of pre-SEA students, reducing the window from 5 years to 2 years, since Secondary school students can be exposed to them from the first year that they enter the school. Such magic should be seen in the NICT and the Vision 20/20 plan of Trinidad and Tobago.

Whether these computer literate students enter the work force in 3 to 5 years, the community will benefit from them - but there will be initial resistance to the new knowledge that they have. This is a cultural change within the business community, and cultural change comes with resistance.

The initial students entering the work force will have the most resistance. There's going to be an adjustment period - and this adjustment period will decrease if more secondary school graduates are exposed to computers, since there will be a consistent increase in the number of people entering the job market with computer literacy.

The initial students who enter the work force will also be the senior people when the other students graduate - and these senior employees and managers will be looking for people with similar skillsets, including computer literacy. What's more, we get more advocates willing to help with projects such as this, and we get them sooner.

By putting computers in Secondary School *now*, we're drastically decreasing the cycle time of community computer literacy. By focusing on primary schools at this time, we may be working against ourselves - needlessly.

All of this is assuming that we get computers within secondary schools within a year or two of getting them into primary schools. Should we fail in implementing that within this time period, we create an accordion effect where primary school students *expect* computers in secondary schools... but they aren't there, or aren't there in a manner which is of maximum support of the student.

Of course, there's always