KINGSTON, Jamaica – Key education sector personnel are being trained in preparation for the Data Protection Act’s implementation.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Education and Youth, Fayval Williams, during the sixth annual TechCon Conference at The Summit in New Kingston on Wednesday.

She said a sensitisation programme for principals and school administrators has commenced in collaboration with e-Learning Jamaica Company Limited.

“In one region, there’s been already 100 principals and administrators that have been exposed to the introductory course in data protection that’s offered by [the] UWI (University of the West Indies), and plans are in place to train the remaining principals over the next three months,” she informed, noting that there are 1,010 primary and high schools in Jamaica.

Williams said starting October 9, approximately 100 data protection officers from schools islandwide will be trained through the University of Technology (UTech) in preparation for the legislation coming on stream.

Passed in 2020, the Data Protection Act provides guidelines on how personal data should be handled in physical and electronic form. The law is scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2023.

“We are also collaborating with e-Learning Jamaica in public education campaigns and, of course, we have to continue to ensure that the education sector is ready to be registered with the Office of the Information Commissioner, as required. We want our school administrators and all in the education sector to also understand the importance, the value of their personal data,”

Williams stated.

She indicated that work will continue to help individuals understand the importance of the legislation.

“I’m sure it’s going to take time for persons to understand and accept the new data protection regime world. But the law is going to come into force and we have to prepare persons for it; and even when it comes into force, I can imagine that we will still be doing training and ensuring that persons are abiding by the new Data Protection Act,” Williams said.

Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister with Oversight for Skills and Digital Transformation, Senator Dr Dana Morris Dixon, indicated that the regulations governing the legislation’s implementation will be brought to Parliament “in a few weeks”.

-JIS