The Ministry of Education, Youth and Information says it is moving to optimise schools’ output through greater use of information and communications technology (ICT) in teaching.

Among the strategies is ensuring that trainee teachers are equipped with computer skills as part of their core competencies.

Speaking at the Teachers Colleges of Jamaica professional development workshop at the Jamaica Conference Centre, downtown Kingston, on Wednesday, portfolio minister, Ruel Reid, reiterated the Government’s commitment to repositioning Jamaica on the cutting edge of technology, particularly in education, to meet the growing demand for technology skills in business process outsourcing, knowledge process outsourcing and engineering.

He noted concerns from several school principals about the limited knowledge of technology among some trainee teachers, and said the ministry planned to rectify the situation by incorporating ICT in the colleges’ training programmes to facilitate its use in the preparation of lesson plans, delivery of lectures and general administration.

The two-day workshop, from August 29 to 30, is staged at the start of each semester, and targets administrators from the country’s eight teacher-training institutions who meet for professional development training and discussions on issues impacting education.

The institutions include Bethlehem Moravian College, Catholic College of Mandeville, Church Teachers’ College, Moneague College, St Joseph’s Teachers’ College, Shortwood Teachers’ College, Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College, and The Mico University College.

The workshop was staged in collaboration with the Joint Board of Teacher Education, University of the West Indies (UWI).