LIME has closed out its Computers for Schools Programme, under which 1,090 computers and free high-speed Internet service have been provided for 110 educational institutions islandwide at a cost of $10.2 million.

The programme, which LIME implemented in collaboration with the NGO Teens for Technology, was launched in 2006 as part of the company's efforts to promote the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in education. The initiative was specifically geared at providing computers for schools where students had little or no access to ICT.

The schools have received 10 computers each, allowing them to set up computer labs and incorporate computer courses and computer-based learning into their curricula. LIME has also provided free high-speed Internet service for any of the schools that are located in areas where the service is available.

At a special ceremony held yesterday at the Hilton Kingston hotel in New Kingston, the last 10 schools received their allocations as LIME brought the curtain down on the programme.

Power of information technology

"We started the Computers for Schools Programme because as a telecommunications company, we know the power of information technology (IT) and how it can enhance the quality of education that our children receive and we want every child in Jamaica to have all the benefits of IT right at their fingertips," said LIME Country Manager Geoff Houston.

"We joined forces with Teens for Technology and set a goal of providing computers for at least 100 schools to set up IT labs and we have helped 110 schools, so we are proud to be able to stand here and say 'mission accomplished'," Houston added.

Responding on behalf of the benefiting institutions, Merbelene Carney-Russell, principal of the Pleasant Valley All-Age School in Clarendon, said: "Living in a rural community so far away from May Pen and the other big towns, it seemed like computers were something that everyone else would have but not us."

She added: "Now, thanks to LIME, our students have their own lab and they will finally have a chance to experience what so many other children across the world sometimes take for granted."