Background

The Barbados SDA Secondary School has been offering Information Technology for over ten years.  During this time we have moved from one small lab with 10 computers located in the Administration building to two large labs each with 30 computers located in the classroom block.  These labs are located on the upper floor to the eastern side of the building.  Along with student computers there’s also one teacher’s computer, two printers, and one TV in each room.  The labs are air conditioned with two units in each room.  At present one of the units in Lab 1 is not functional and is awaiting repair or replacement.  The computers are fully networked and are part of a school wide local area network which was provided by the Government of Barbados through the Education Sector Enhancement Program (Edutech).

The Information Technology section is headed by Mr. Andrew Yearwood who is also the Information Technology Coordinator for the school and consists of four other persons: Mr. Dale Hardy, Mr. George Yearwood, Mr. Derek Wellington and Mrs. Stacey Cashier.  The department offers Computer Education in the lower school and Information Technology and Electronic Document Preparation and Management (EDPM) at the CXC level.

The computer labs are also used by teachers throughout the curriculum for instruction, research, preparation and practice.  Teachers needing the use of the labs can request them through Mr. Yearwood or Mr. Wellington.

Currently, the computer towers are placed on the floor which exposes them to dust and other elements.  This also makes it easier for students to damage them as they use them.  The monitors are kept on normal student desks some of which are not very stable.  It is quite possible for the monitors to fall or be damaged otherwise.  There are also no accommodations for the keyboards and students generally use them on their laps.  The southern side of both labs is fitted with glass windows.  Some of these windows have been damaged which apart from allowing cold air out also allows birds to come in, make nests and in some cases damage the computers and other equipment.  The northern side of the labs is fitted with metal louvers some of which have also been damaged allowing the cold air to escape and exposing the room to dust, rain and other elements.