Students welcome free Wi-Fi service in Sav
Published:Saturday | April 30, 2022 | 12:09 AMAlbert Ferguson/ Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Students who attend institutions in Westmoreland yesterday welcomed the installation of a free public Wi-Fi hotspot in the parish capital Savanna-la-Mar.
Highlighting the importance of Internet services, the students from Godfrey Stewart High, Manning’s School and Frome Technical High School shared that it will give them access to critical information needed to complete tasks assigned in their various academic disciplines.
Morgan Foster, a student of Manning’s School, told The Gleaner that the public Wi-Fi will serve as a security blanket, allowing parents to stay in touch with their children with more ease.
“It’s a good initiative because many students might not have Internet service on the cellular phone and in case of emergencies, we can communicate with our parents. We are now able to send a message to our parents and caregivers, informing them of the type of public transportation vehicle we are taking to and from schools,” noted Foster, a Jamaica Combined Cadet Force sergeant in the Manning’s School Cadet Unit.
Joyel Ricketts, a student at Godfrey Stewart High School in the heart of Savanna-la-Mar, noted that many students are poor and Internet services are not immediately available to them.
“For these students, the public Wi-Fi is good for them. It will help them to complete their assignments and work toward charting a career path to transform their lives,” young Ricketts said.
Tyrone Thompson, a senior student at Frome Technical High, expressed similar views.
“The public Wi-Fi is a great thing that is now being installed here in Savanna-la-Mar because students like me who need to contact a family member before reaching home will now be able to do that,” he said.
Thompson expressed further hope that residents and commuters through the town will make the best use of the opportunities that come with the service.
“I hope people my age and older will use it wisely and not for negative causes,” he stated.
Other communities to benefit
Yesterday, the Universal Service Fund launched the Savanna-la-Mar public Wi-Fi, which CEO Daniel Dawes said is valued at approximately $20 million and covers a distance of roughly three miles, encompassing most of the primary and high schools in the town.
He noted that the wider parish is set to benefit from a network of nine such hotspots in various communities.
“We would have done community Wi-Fi [installations] in Grange Hill, Coke Street and Bethel Town,” said Dawes of the communities already enjoying free Internet services.
He noted that by the end of May, residents in Whitehouse and Little London will also be brought on board,
Devon Thomas, councillor for Northern Savanna-la-Mar, welcomed the launch of the service, noting that it will help to enhance people’s lives.
He said the Internet has emerged as one of the most important means of communication linking Westmoreland and Jamaica to the wider world by the click of a mouse or the strike of a key.
“This [COVID-19] pandemic has exposed issues of affordability, quality of coverage, and technical skills needed to get children online all over Jamaica as a result,” Thomas told residents at the function held at Brooks Park in Westmoreland.