with North Hill residents
Zion Methodist Church, at North Hill, was the venue for the Anguilla Government-arranged Community Desk Initiative meeting on Tuesday evening, March 20. The presentation was on Information Technology.
Among those at the event were: Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley, who is coordinating the initiative and public outreach on behalf of the Ministry of Social Development and is working in close cooperation with Permanent Secretary, Dr Bonnie Richardson-Lake; Chief Education Officer, Mrs. Rhonda Connor; and Ms. Rebecca Haskins, Education Officer, Information Technology, who gave the IT presentation.
So far, there have been fifteen such public meetings held across the island.
The Anguillian newspaper asked Mrs. Bradley, Community Planner in the Ministry of Social Development, to comment on the Initiative. “Basically the Community Desk Initiative is a means of bringing representatives of the public sector and the statutory bodies to the community,” she replied. “At their first community meetings they usually discuss who they are; who are responsible for the public policies they lead; and they get an opportunity to have intimate dialogue with the persons in the community.
“For example, this evening we will be discussing education services in the North Hill community, giving persons there an opportunity to meet with senior members of the Department of Education; seek clarification on various matters; and share their views on any education-related issue. We are particularly targeting persons who need to speak with the education personnel…”
She continued: “So far, we have had approximately fifteen meetings involving the Immigration Department, Environmental Health, the Health Authority, Social Security and Inland Revenue, among other public sector departments, for the first three months. We are rolling out the Initiative on a three-month cycle targeting other public services and other communities, and have so far been working in seven communities.
“The meetings are catching on slowly. We may not necessarily have large crowds like in the 30s, but we have been having small crowds of 10-15 persons. What is more important is the richness of the engagement. For example, at one of their meetings Social Security personnel had 8 persons from the public in Sandy Ground but the exchange was so refreshing.”
Chief Education Officer, Mrs. Rhonda Connor, commented: “We welcome the opportunity of the Initiative spearheaded by the Ministry of Social Development and our Community Services Planner, Mrs. Hyacinth Bradley, the lead person coordinating the Initiative. It provides an opportunity for all Government departments to go to the different communities to share what is happening in their respective departments, and to solicit the views of the communities about their particular areas of work.”
About her own work, Mrs. Connor stated: “My role as CEO is to ensure that the information that is shared with the communities, at a particular time, reflects what is happening within the Education Department and to ensure that we gain from these exercises. The meetings also assist persons in the communities to engage in any changes or practices in schools and to speak about any concerns which parents may have. There are some issues which we, as the Department of Education, would need to take on board as well.”
Ms. Rebecca Haskins was delighted to have the opportunity to make a presentation on Information Technology. “We are basically providing information on the digitalising of examinations and our ‘bring your own device policy now’ that has been introduced in the high school. There are certain initiatives that the Department of Education is working on, with the Customs Department, in granting duty free allowances for parents bringing in laptops for students in forms 4, 5 and 6 – and we are sharing that information.
“Both internet providers, Flow and Digicel, have offered discounted packages on portable internet solutions for the parents of those students. We are also providing general dates of reading tests, dates of test of standards and other events during this term and next term.”
Asked how she thought the students were responding to this type of information technology, she remarked: “I think they like it. They are happy to be using their computers.”
