Programme Goals & Objectives

The Objectives of the GIS Programme are to:

1. Create a cadre of persons with spatial skills.
2. Facilitate the provision of GIS and related tools.
3. Assist in the development of curricula for the use of GIS technology
4. Promote the use of GIS in teacher training experiences and methodologies.
5. Influence government policy education with respect to the use of GIS technology.

The General Programme Goals are:

1. To begin pilot programme implementation at the beginning of the 2002 Easter Term
2. To introduce the programme in 14 primary and secondary level schools across the island
3. To increase the number of participating schools from 14 to 28 by the end of the first year and triple the initial figure to 42 in the 2nd year
4. To identify and train 2 teachers per school.
5. To develop and conduct an on going GIS Teacher Training Programme
6. To develop a certified GIS curriculum
7. To create GIS lecture material and local data sets.
8. To make a minimum of 250 pupils/students GIS literate in the first year.
9. To showcase 1 or 2 successful GISSEP projects on GIS DAY 2002
10. To incorporate GIS as a teaching tool in the school curriculum in the 3rd year of the programme.
11. To participate in the World Summit for Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in August-September, 2002. At this summit students will showcase their work to leaders.

Other components of the programme include:

1. The development and staging of a GIS training of trainers
2. The creation and certification of a GIS curriculum and
3. The preparation of a 5 year implementation plan.

Current Activities

The GIS in Schools Education Programme was launched on February 14, 2002. The launch was followed by the first workshop, which was held to sensitize educators from selected schools across the island about the programme. The second workshop "Introduction to ArcView" and Project Preparation was held on March 1 to 3, 2002. A third workshop had been organized on two occasions but due to clashes with other events and unforeseen circumstances, both were postponed. Evaluation reports from both the first and second workshop indicate that they were successful.

Twelve schools participated in the first two workshops. An additional twelve have been invited to participate in the programme, starting with the third workshop.

The Ministry has provided the participating schools with a GIS in School Education Kit. Enclosed were, licenses for Arcview GIS software, and related books.

The listing of teachers that have attended the workshops, the number of GIS Software Education Kits received and the respective schools is presented below.

School	TEACHER	# of ARCVIEW
St. Jago High	Nina Bulgin Ardene Jones Grace Richards	2
Ascot High	Miriam Clayton-Johnson Bernadette Wilson	2
Mona High School	Josette DaCosta	2
Wolmers' Boys' High	Newton Dixon Paulet Harty	2
Knox Community College	Lincoln Foster Errol Miller Garth Nunes	5
Knox College	Sandy Shaw	5
Excelsior Community College	Arlene Garrick	5
Immaculate Conception High	Arlene Hay Charmaine Heslop-Thomas	5
Ardenne High	Othneil Hemans Nadine Simms	3
Wolmers' High For Girls	Jennifer Henry Arlene Morgan	3
Meadowbrook High School	Phyllis Jones	2
St. Andrew High	Karen Miller Michelle Rhone	1

A goal of the GIS Education in Schools Programme is to develop and conduct an on going Teacher Training Programme and to make a minimum of 250 students GIS literate in the first year.

The MLE has invited mentors to participate in the GISSEP programme, to provide technical advise, assistance and mentorship. A critical factor for the success and sustainability of the program is obtaining the necessary support to teach GIS in the schools. Therefore the MLE strongly believes that mentor support is very important.

Teacher Training Programme

One of the activities of the GISSEP is the training of Geography, Social Studies and Computer Science teachers from High Schools and Community Colleges islandwide. As at May 2003, a total of 66 teachers from 36 schools have been trained in basic GIS Arcview. For details on Teacher Training programme visit the GISSEP website for "GISJourney" newsletter.

GISSEP Mentoring Programme

Each participating School in the GISSEP is assigned at least 1 mentor. The purpose of the mentor is to guide an provide in a voluntary manner, training and technical support to educate teachers and young persons at the primary and secondary school level in the use and benifits of GIS. Mentors should, among other things, demonstrate a willingness and enthusiasm for imparting knowledge to primary and secondary level students and teachers.

GIS Day

GIS Day is an annual worldwide event celebrated in November of each year. It formalizes the practices of GIS users and vendors of opening their doors to schools, business, and the general public to showcase real-world applications of this important technology.

The first formal observation of GIS Day Day in Jamaica took place on November 20, 2002 & November 19, 2003 at the UWI, Mona Campus.

Participating Schools as at June 2003

Ardenne High	St. Thomas Technical High
Camperdown Hig	Yallahs High
Excelsior Community College	Ascot High
Holy Childhood High	Jose Marti Technical High
Immaculate Conception High	St. Jago High
Kingston College	Jamaica College
Meadowbrook High	Knox College (High)
Mona High	Westwood High
Oberlin	William Knibb
Queen's High	Memorial High
St, Andrew High	Cornwall College
Herbert Morrison Technical High	Stony Hill Primary & Jmr. High
Montego Bay Community College	Wolmer's High for Boys
Wolmer's High for Girls	Mt. Alvernia High
Green Islan High	Merlen Ottey High
Rusea's High	Titchfield High
Little London High