STUDENTS at Central High School in Clarendon are basking in the first Universal Service Fund (USF) Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Club for high schools, aimed at promoting digital literacy and bridging the digital divide among Jamaica’s youth.

Launched recently, the club’s membership is 56 and has a growing list of prospective members.

The initiative will provide students with a platform to apply ICT concepts to real-world scenarios, promote ingenuity, and develop soft skills in leadership, critical thinking, teamwork, and communication.

Treasurer of the club, Riana Richards, told JIS News that the members are very excited to be the first school to have such a club, adding that they conduct weekly meetings and are planning several programmes to ensure that ICT is embraced by as many students as possible.

She said members were at the completion stage of their school’s website, which will be used to promote the institution’s activities, its history, and the academic offerings, with a special focus on “information technology skills” development.

The treasurer strongly believes that the club will help with the improvement of students’ technology skills, such as programming, coding, robotics, and website development.

Teacher at Central High and adviser to the club, Sasha Burke, said that for some time she toyed with the idea of having a formal ICT group at the school, and when “we spoke to persons at the USF, everything came together, and I am really glad that we did”.

Burke said that she is pleased with the interest shown by the students in the group.

She said this will give the school much more exposure, and students at the school and other institutions can get information about the various subjects offered at the institution’s evening classes.

Corporate planner at the USF, Nepetra Bennett, said coming out of a 2022 decision to ensure “greater efforts to engage citizens in ICT from an early age”, the concept of the ICT clubs in high schools was formulated to provide an environment that would encourage an appreciation for ICT.

“It is envisioned that through the club membership students will be provided with the opportunity to access the various ICT applications,” she told JIS News.

“The programme is not only to establish ICT clubs at these schools but also provide mentorship with the assignment of representatives from the USF, Jamaica Technology and Digital Alliance (JTDA), and other interest groups,” she adds.

Students will be given the opportunity to partner and compete with other schools that have USF ICT clubs and can access scholarships and grants provided by the USF and partners when they matriculate to the tertiary level.

Bennett has encouraged club members to become “leaders and pioneers” in the advancement of the ICT sector and to take on the mantle of becoming the next programme developer, robotics engineer, network analyst, and web designer.

“Be an agent of change and a stalwart in the advancement of the Jamaican society,” she added.

Promoting ICT through the clubs is a further commitment by the USF to ensure that all Jamaicans have access to and are able to fully utilise ICT while empowering Jamaica’s youth to become active participants in the digital economy and to equip them with the skills they need to succeed in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world.

The USF, which is an agency of the Ministry of Science, Energy and Technology, was established in 2005 with a mandate of bridging the digital divide through the provision of Internet access to everyone.

It has been instrumental in the execution of projects, such as the Community Wi-Fi, which is aimed at increasing Wi-Fi Internet access in 189 communities islandwide.

There are also the Connect Ja programme, providing Internet access to 19 major towns; 300 community access points (CAPs); provision of full scholarships to students that have matriculated to the tertiary level from the Technology Advancement Programme; research grants to The University of the West Indies to aid in the development of the ICT sector; provision of ICT devices to students and organisations; and funding the e-learning Jamaica programme, geared at providing tablets and laptops to students and teachers.