Mandeville, Manchester — Ryando Biggs of Knox High School in Clarendon believes that taking part in the Jamaica Observer Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Lecture Series Workshop made him more prepared for his external mathematics examination.

“Some of the things that I was having trouble remembering, the lecturer… made it easier to remember,” he said at the recent staging of the event at Belair High School.

 He was among the more than 100 students in central Jamaica who benefited from the final leg of the workshop held in Mandeville.

The event, which was being held in Mandeville for the third time, gave students the opportunity to sharpen their knowledge in CSEC mathematics and English language before the examinations.

“I have never seen a better effort,” Biggs told the Jamaica Observer Central.

 He was also pleased with the provision of free Wi-Fi made possible by telecommunications provider Flow.

Flow representative Nicole Campbell said that it is the first year that Internet connection was offered as part of the support to the CSEC workshop.

She believes that if used for the “right reasons” there is a positive relationship between Internet usage and academic performance.

Campbell said that with the Internet students can learn at their own pace, work on weak areas and benefit from a wide array of information resources.

Participating schools included May Day High, Christiana High, Victor Dixon High, Porus High, deCarteret College, Munro College, St Elizabeth Technical, Newell High, Bishop Gibson High, Bellefield High, Hampton School and Glenmuir High.

Educator Jerome King felt it was commendable that corporate Jamaica was able to balance their sponsorship to accommodate educational activities along.

“Shortly we will be in their (students) hands so we better pay attention to them now. Certainly the sponsors and the Observer have their priorities right,” she said.

CSEC marker and teacher Sonia Lee told students not to be discouraged by less than ideal outcomes in their examinations.

“One setback does not make you a failure,” she said.

More than 800 students from schools in central Jamaica, Kingston, St Catherine and Montego Bay reportedly  from the free mathematics and English CSEC workshops this year.