Nassau, Bahamas - On
Friday, December 9th 2016, the Hon. Jerome K. Fitzgerald will be one
of two recipients of the Friend of the Industry Award to be presented at the
Education Business Forum in New York, USA. This 2-day forum is hosted by the Education
Technology Industry Network (ETIN) of the Software and Information Industry
Association (SIIA).
Minister
Fitzgerald along with Senator Angus King, Maine’s first Independent Unites
States Senator are the recipients of this year’s Friend of the Industry Award. Both
recipients’ public service achievements have improved teaching and learning
opportunities for educators and students.
The Hon.
Jerome K. Fitzgerald has been working feverishly during his tenure as education
minister to raise the bar and close the achievement gap within the public
school system through a concentrated focus on improving the high school
graduation rate. The goal of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology
(MoEST) is to increase the high school graduation rate from 50% to 85% by 2030.
This is the thrust of the “Shared Vision for Education 2030”, a bi-partisan
policy on education.
In recent
years, the Ministry of Education embarked on an aggressive initiative to upgrade
technology in our public junior and senior high schools, investing more than $6million.
Through the INSPIRE project, the MoEST has created partnerships with Promethean
and Microsoft to enhance the teaching and learning process within public school
classrooms. Teachers are now being encouraged to embrace technology in the
classroom and use it as a tool to add value to the learning experience. In short,
the MoEST will implement an Education Management Information System (EMIS)
throughout public schools as it seeks to keep a closer eye on students to
prevent them from ‘falling through the cracks’. It will also increase
accountability up and down the education system.
The education
Minister, has garnered the respect of education professionals around the globe
as he is the Chair of the Commonwealth Education Ministers as well as Chair of
the Committee on Education for Education Ministers of the Organization of
American States.
Many
countries are looking at the Bahamian education system and some of the
initiatives that have been recently implemented as a model for adaptation in their
respective countries. While many argue that our system is broken, there are
more things right than wrong. The global education community has noted with
keen interest the Shared Vision for Education 2030, the Preschool Expansion Project
and the INSPIRE Project among others.
The
Education Business Forum is regarded as the premier NYC event for education
business leadership and the investor community. This annual conference brings
together senior management teams of education software companies, platform
technology firms, solution providers and distributors, publishers, private
equity firms and venture capitalists.
Following
the awards presentation
on Friday morning, Minister Fitzgerald and Senator
Angus King will be interviewed by EdWeek Marketplace’s Michele Molnar and will discuss
the transformation of two-nation states fueled by innovation in education and
technology. The two will share important lessons for policy design and
implementation, highlighting how business and industry supported their efforts.
Moreover, given the outcomes of recent elections favoring protectionist trade
and immigration policies, they will also discuss the consequences for business
and education and the prospect for realizing such change across the globe.