The principal of the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies may have found the answer to a priority issue facing the new Kamla government.Professor Clem Sankat unveiled a US$70 laptop at the 50th Annual Honours and Awards Ceremony of the Association of Professional Engineers (APETT) at UWI on Saturday night.
“I just returned two days ago from Vancouver, British Columbia," he said as he addressed the gathering after being awarded for excellence.
"I attended a Board meeting of the Commonwealth of Learning (CL), an institution created by Commonwealth prime ministers to support open and distance learning across Commonwealth countries," he added.
He spoke about lessons he learned from Indian delegates. "My Indian colleagues on the Board passed a laptop around the table for us to see. When it came to me, the first thing I did was say ‘I’m going to get my e-mail from UWI.’ And lo and behold, it truly worked, and I got my e-mail,” Sankat announced.
He was fascinated by the US$70 price tag and immediately and he immediately thought of the government's pledge to provide a laptop for each of the SEA graduates entering high school.
"So when our Government says a laptop for everyone, let me say others are doing the same thing. They are making it a reality," he said, adding that "if we are creative, we can meet the needs of our people."
The professor said he plans to share word of the device with the Minister of Planning Mary King, and her cabinet colleagues Education Minister Dr Tim Gopeesingh and Tertiary Education Minister Fazal Karim.
India and China are producing the computers for use in India and Africa.
Read about the organisation: One laptop per child
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