Huawei Technologies boosts learning capacity at Lennon High

A game-changer in the educational system is how Raphael Beckford, information technology teacher at Lennon High School in Mocho, Clarendon, described Huawei Technologies’ donation of an IdeaHub interactive panel to the institution.

The IdeaHub comes with several features including intelligent writing, High Definition (HD) video-conferencing and wireless sharing. The company said users will have a “virtually-face-to-face” experience as video-conferencing is conducted in “crisp, full 1080p HD, with 4K content sharing”. The smart board feature is also capable of converting illegible writing to readable text.

Beckford, who was speaking at the handover ceremony at the school on Thursday explained, “I say it’s a game changer because a lot of parents do not want to send their children back to school because they don’t want them to take the [COVID-19] vaccination, so if the parents say, ‘Me nah send back me child a school,’ we’ll be able to reach that child once the child has [Internet] connectivity.”

The donation is a boost of optimism for acting principal, Tanesha Powell. With only about 25 to 30 per cent of the student population being engaged virtually, Powell believes the interactive panel will increase the number of students engaged in distance learning.

Speaking of the donation, she said: “We are excited about it because the type of students we get at Lennon are from the lower end of the educational system. We have students that are not able to identify letters as is for this cohort of PEP (Primary Exit Profile) students that we have received, so the IdeaHub is going to change a lot of things for us.”

She added: “We also have children whose parents will not have them vaccinated (against COVID-19,) so they are missing out on learning. The IdeaHub and the ability that it has will cater to those students that we have at home.”

Poor connectivity issues are woes reported in many northern Clarendon communities. Powell told The Gleaner that said woes have led the school to start the ‘Operation Find Them’ initiative, which involves going into communities to provide students with hard copies of lessons.

Lennon High is one of two schools to benefit from the donation. Huawei Technologies’ regional director, Courtney Hamilton, said the idea to donate the devices stemmed from the new challenges unearthed by the COVID-19 pandemic. He posited that the company has a mandate to support education.

“We are very interested in contributing to the economy and contributing to the people we serve. We want to give back and we can’t think of a better place to give back than in education,” Hamilton told The Gleaner.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information Robert Morgan lauded Huawei for the contribution. He said Huawei’s venture indicates that there are people in society who are willing to invest in the education of the country’s youth.

Morgan, who is also the member of Parliament for Clarendon North Central, cited Lennon High School as the most important institution in Mocho, adding that Mocho is in need of a transformation which begins with transforming the school.

“When I was asked for recommendations as to who should get this, I said ‘give it to Lennon’ because I have decided to take a personal interest in Lennon.” He added that reports of connectivity hurdles also influenced the ministry’s decision.

“I am pushing them (the ministry) to look at Lennon not just as a high school, but a high school that needs special attention,” Morgan said.