KINGSTON, Jamaica – Hundreds of high school students from across the island were exposed to various careers and opportunities in the technology field, while benefiting from online safety tips, at a one day Teen Tech JA conference.

Minister of Education and Youth Fayval Williams, delivered the keynote address at the inaugural event, which was held at the Wolmer’s Boys’ School in Kingston on Wednesday.

Teen Tech JA was conceptualised by Eduhub, which is a company that uses technology to provide innovative solutions to problems facing the education sector in the Caribbean.

The exposition was divided into innovation, education and creative hubs, which allowed students to share their inventions, learn about tertiary studies in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), and showcase creative inventions such as robots.

Among the highlights was a Future Innovators Pitch competition, where students put forward solutions to problems they identified within their school space.

Several technology entities were also on hand to display their products and services.

Minister Williams endorsed the conference as being in alignment with the Government’s thrust to bolster Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) education in Jamaica.

She welcomed the students’ exposure to new and emerging jobs in the information technology field.

The education and youth minister pointed out that while traditional jobs in areas such as medicine and law are vital “we want you [the students] to learn about a whole host of other appealing professions in cybersecurity, robotics, data analytics and many other careers in the field.”

Fifteen-year-old student from the Mary Mount High School in St Mary, Moriah Hutchinson, told JIS News that she was exposed to new careers in technology, how to use the internet and “to think before you click to protect your identity from hackers.”

Student from the Wolmer’s Boys’ School, 17-year-old Tahir Bailey, who wants to become an engineer, said he learned a lot from the conference and hopes that it will become a regular event “to help more students learn”.

In his address, Principal of the Wolmer’s Boys’ School, Dwight Pennycooke, said he wants the school to become “a home” to the conference.

He noted that “intentional focus” continues to be placed on STEAM education at the institution.

“We are seeking to prepare our students [for STEAM] and so a significant part of our career emphasis is actually science, technology, engineering, mathematics and sports,” he said

Pennycooke said there is great interest in these subject areas from students, noting that there was a “significant sign-up [for the conference], from our lower school students.”

Chief Executive Officer and founder of Eduhub, Davia Bryan-Campbell stated that the idea for the conference came out of recognition that “there is a gap between what the students know about technology and what is actually occurring in the technology space.”

“We’ve been working with the schools and we realised that the gap was so wide because technology is moving so fast, and so if we continue on that path, we’re going to be creating students who are [not aware of these changes],” she said.

Other institutions represented at the conference were Wolmer’s Girls’ School, St Hugh’s High, Clarendon College, The Queen’s School, Central High and others.

Major sponsors of the event included E-Learning Jamaica, Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA), Universal Service Fund (USF) and Digicel Foundation.

– JIS