Dear Editor,

The ICT sector has been significantly neglected in recent times. I welcome the minister’s move to transform some schools into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)-based institutions. The sector is lacking highly trained professionals for which there is growing demand. This sector has the potential to generate billions in revenue and provide jobs for Jamaica to compete globally.

It is against this background that I make mention of a recent Jamaica Observer article titled, ‘Too much focus on ‘average’ students,’ highlighting the fact that gifted children are often neglected in our education system. The article stated that the “general manager of FYAH 105 FM, Ronald Sutherland, is calling for greater focus to be placed on students with superior learning capabilities as many of them are being left behind because of what he said is an education system that caters primarily to the average student”. It further stated that: “…not only is the system lacking in terms of making provisions for geniuses, but the society, on a whole, is very hostile to excellence”.

At teachers’ college, there are courses that are focused on teaching one how to deal with diversity in the classroom, which includes gifted children. However, in practicality, it is more difficult than it seems. We cannot allow gifted children to just go through the system. In theory, gifted children are not only those who are more intellectually advanced than their grade level and/ or their counterparts, but children with exceptional talent in specific areas. So, we can have a child that is not good at logical computation but is an exceptional artist: such a child is gifted.

The notion that academics define gifted children is an insular view to which there is a broader context. Indeed, there are geniuses in Jamaica, but their talents are being stifled. For there is no opportunity, so they leave or they are assessed incorrectly. What we ought to do is separate the gifted children and allow them to excel in their specific areas. We are not using the talents of our children; our geniuses are learning in a vacuum, being enclosed, not able to reach their full potential. As such, I propose that we train them, capitalising on their talents to fill the gap in the ICT sector.

Our children have become consumers of foreign gadgets, depending too much on them. We should teach them to make their own. A child must not only be able to use a tablet but learn and know how to make it. I am tired of seeing “Made in China”, or “Made in Japan”. What about “Made in Jamaica?:” I believe that Jamaica has the talent and ability to compete in the global market. When will I somebody in another country take up a tablet or mobile phone or gadget and see the label “Made in Jamaica”? Those with exceptional artistic skills, use them in the animation industry. We need programmers, graphic designers, software developers, innovators, inventors, creators, and writers who are exceptional and can compete in the international marketplace. The animation industry lacks professionals and experts. It’s a billion-dollar industry. We have the talent, let us use it.

Kenroy Davis

Clark’s Town, Trelawny

kenroy.davis20@gmail.com