The Honourable Glenys Hanna-Martin, Minister of Education, Technical and Vocational Training in The Bahamas provided opening remarks at
CANTO’s recent roundtable on Digital Sustainability and Education. Hanna-Martin said that her priority is to equip students with fundamental skills to function in both social and economic settings. She noted that education is a critical vehicle for national
development.

The Minister shared that one of the key pillars of the education system is digital literacy. Hanna- Martin referred to the UNESCO adopted definition of literacy which is, “The ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute, and use printed, and written materials associated with varying contents. Literacy involves a continuum of learning enabling individuals to achieve their goals to develop their knowledge and potential and to participate fully in their community and wider society.”

Minister Hanna-Martin proffered that the greatest asset that we have is not technology, but rather our young people. She lauded the JUMP program which has provided social assistance for those in need and announced that the JUMP will be launched in The Bahamas in the coming weeks. JUMP is a public/private partnership providing access to technology, internet, and digital skills training for families in need.
A round table discussion followed the Minister’s remarks, which included Dominique McCartney- Russell, Director of Education for the Ministry of Education in The Bahamas, Sameer Bhatti, CEO of BTC, Britta Reinhardt, Chief Commercial Officer of B2C for C&W Communications and Ricardo Allen, CEO of One-on-One Educational services.

Britta Reinhardt, Chief Commercial Officer for C&W Communications challenged the team to focus on collaboration and understanding technology, and how it could be used. Ricardo Allen, CEO of One on One, was reminded about the effects of Hurricane Dorian, and
how The Bahamas through its partnership with the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation used a crisis to create an opportunity to improve education helping to introduce e-learning. Through his continued partnership with BTC and the Ministry of Education, One on One has
provided digitized solutions including grade books and report cards. Allen noted that you cannot improve what you cannot measure. He touted his organization’s ability to provide useable data and analysis for the ministry which can be used for personalized learning. He strongly suggested that: “Education should be seen as an investment in infrastructure and not as an expense.”

BTC CEO, Sameer Bhatti shared that he has seen a number of programs aimed to provide funding or technology to families in need. However, he noted that digital skills training was not a part of many of those programs. He took the opportunity to explain how vital digital skills training is in creating sustainability in education. He shared more about the JUMP program driven by the Cable & Wireless Charitable Foundation, which not only includes digital tools, but also provides access to an eight-week digital skills training program.

Director of Education, Dominque McCartney-Russell experienced hurricane Dorian first-hand in Abaco, where seven public and a few private schools were destroyed. The Director noted that students who fared well those who had skills for independent learning. She shared the
importance of the virtual school in creating digital sustainability, which provides support for students across the country. She also noted that this provides a repository of curated digital content for all learning levels.

The roundtable discussion was facilitated by Teresa Wankin, Secretary General for CANTO, and was a part of the 39th Annual Conference and Trade Exhibition held from July 7-10 in Miami Florida. The theme of this year’s conference is “Towards a Sustainable Digital Economy.”

More Photo Highlights Below:

Ricardo Allen, CEO of One-on-One Educational services and Britta Reinhardt, Chief
Commercial Officer of B2C for C&W Communications deliver insightful remarks as panellists at the recent CANTO roundtable discussion

Minister of Education and Technical and Vocational Training, the Hon. Glenys
Hanna-Martin delivers opening remarks at CANTO’s recent roundtable on Digital Sustainability
and Education.

BTC CEO Sameer Bhatti and Ricardo Allen, CEO of One-on-One Educational
services engage the audience as panellists at the recent CANTO roundtable discussion.

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