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| Backgrounder(s) & FactSheet(s): | Backgrounder | Factsheet |
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FARMINGTON – Peace River South MLA Blair Lekstrom joined officials from the Peace River South school district to celebrate the completion of the first phase of major high-speed Internet upgrades to B.C. schools, ensuring students have the access they need to increase their computer literacy skills.
“In the Speech from the Throne this year, our government set a goal of becoming the most literate place in North America by 2010,” said Lekstrom. “By improving Internet access around the province, we are giving students another tool to increase computer literacy, bringing us another step closer to achieving our 2010 goal.”
Lekstrom joined students at Parkland elementary school, the last of the 151 schools in the first phase to receive the upgrade, to celebrate their connection to the world of high-speed Internet. These upgrades will allow students quicker access to learning resources, give teachers a wider range of electronic learning tools and provide more professional development opportunities for rural teachers.
“We know that access to high-speed Internet is an incredible resource for students, teachers and parents no matter where they live,” said Education Minister Tom Christensen. “By putting high-speed Internet in the hands of students across the province, we are quite literally putting the world at their fingertips - giving them the tools they need to succeed.”
To ensure equal access to educational opportunities for all students in British Columbia, the Province is working to consolidate its Internet, telephone and voice mail networks with other public sector organizations. This provincial initiative will further expand high-speed broadband and Internet access points in communities throughout British Columbia.
“This is part of our New Era commitment to bridge the digital divide and ensure British Columbians become the most computer literate, highly-skilled workforce in Canada,” said Management Services Minister Joyce Murray. “Today, almost every person, whether they are at home, at work or at school, uses computer technology. Computers are the pen and paper of the 21st Century.”
All remaining schools with slow-speed Internet will be upgraded by March 2005. The upgrades support the Province’s focus on literacy. The Province is investing $744,000 in new literacy tools for parents, teachers and students, $10 million in new textbooks for B.C. classrooms and $1 million in computers for schools to improve student literacy and student achievement.
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For information on AchieveBC, visit http://www.achievebc.ca.
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