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REPORT ON FORMAL LAUNCHING OF SMALL ISLANDS VOICE AT MARIGOT SECONDARY SCHOOL
The handing-over ceremony which was held at the Marigot Secondary school, on 12 February 2004, in my opinion was a huge success. Present at the ceremony were the Hon. Vince Henderson, Minister of Education, Sports, youth affairs and Human Resource Development, Dr. Alexander Burton-James - UNESCO Secretary General, Mr. Abraham Durand - ICT Advisor (Ministry of Education), students involved in the "Small Islands Voice" from Grand Bay Secondary School, Portsmouth Secondary School, and Dubique Resource Center, the media, Principal - Mrs. Mary-Ann Augustus, and staff and students of the Marigot Secondary School.
Mr. Daniel Marie - ICT Teacher and "Small Island Voice" Coordinator at the school addressed the gathering. Mr. Marie gave an Overview of the Small Island Voice and then spoke about the "Role of Internet in schools". He mentioned that the school active involvement in Phase 1 and 2 of the forum. "The students took great pride in reading and posting their own articles," said Mr. Marie. He went on to say that the school will continue responding and posting its own article based on the topics they received. Mr. Marie could not have ended his address without thanking profoundly Dr. Burton-James for her kind assistance in getting the equipments for the School. The ICT Teacher also conveyed his gratitude to the UNESCO head office through Dr. Burton-James for their kind generosity. He pledged his commitment to the Students and teacher of the Portsmouth Secondary School, in assisting them in their contribution to the "Small Island Voice".
Dr. Burton-James addressed the gathering after a small rendition from one of the participants of the Small Island Voice. She spoke about the importance of the equipment and how the forum has facilitated in linking students all over the globe. She emphasized the importance of the school's contribution to the forum and urged the students that they must take their involvement to the forum quite seriously. The Minister of Education, spoke about the importance of ICT in school. Mr. Henderson also urged the students to maintain the link with the students of the other island. This he said can be seen as fostering cultural exchanges from students of the various schools and island. The day ended with Dr. James handing over the equipments to the Ministry of Education, who then handed the equipments over to the Principal of the school. The equipments handed over were as follows; two(2) air conditioning units, three(3) voltage stabilizers, Fifteen(15) RAM chips and three(3) modems. Estimated over EC$8500.00. Then the guests were invited to a tour of the Computer room and after served with refreshments.
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The
ceremony began at 11:00 am with the first stanza of the Country's National
Anthem sung by two (2) students of the Marigot Secondary School. Then
we moved into singing the School Song and then the opening Prayer and
Worship.
The
Welcome remarks were done by the Principal of the Marigot Secondary
School, Mrs. Mary-Ann Augustus- Francis. She took great delight in welcoming
our visiting officials and friends and was very grateful to Dr. Burton-James
for the valuable contribution she was about to present. Mrs. Augustus-Francis
called upon the students of the school to take much care of the equipment
and to make the best use of them.
