FREEPORT, THE BAHAMAS, September 9th 2013 – Antigua & Barbuda’s Minister of State for Information and Communications, Dr. Edmond Mansoor, on Thursday, September 05, 2013 lauded the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Columbus International Inc. (Columbus) and the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC).
Dr. Mansoor called CXC Registrar, Dr. Didacus Jules, and corporate vice president of sales and marketing for Columbus, Rhea Yaw Ching, change agents at the helm of revolutionising education for all ages across the Caribbean.
“The absolute epicentre of changing Caribbean civilisation, is through education,” the minister stated. “To make this happen,” he added, “We need broadband as an absolute minimum to every household, every student, and every government agency. It is the economic currency of the future.
We are very interested as a government in Columbus’ vision of piping fibre to the home.”
The new MOU outlines three key areas that Columbus will support the work of the CXC.
- To enhance CXC’s technological capacity to help bring needed innovation to the delivery of its education products and services in the Caribbean;
- To foster the development of indigenous educational content through the use of technology; and
- To enable broad dissemination of educational content relevant to the Caribbean.
Dr. Jules acknowledged the importance of the occasion, which brings together two organisations with complimentary goals. The collaboration, he noted, would allow for CXC to elevate and privilege Caribbean knowledge adding that Columbus was giving the regional examination body the infrastructure to disseminate indigenous content in a digital space.
Since starting operations in 2005, Columbus is one of the fastest growing companies in the region with USB$1.3 in assets and a capital investment of over USB$1.1. The Company operates one of the most advanced broadband networks in the region, spanning 42 nations with operations in 8 Caribbean countries.
Rhea Yaw Ching said the MOU fits squarely in the company’s vision for the region. “We are making sure that Columbus can create the capacity to enable the creativity.”
The Columbus executive acknowledged the work of their strategic partner BrightPath Foundation, which is a key player in the regional push to mobilize young people to embrace technology, not as consumers but as creators of mobile apps, instructional games, movies, and other positive content which reflects the Caribbean experience.
BrightPath, Dr. Jules noted, is providing the hands on expertise to enable the CXC to manifest its vision of providing more educational solutions, which solve real world challenges, and prepares students to operate in a changing and increasingly competitive world.
The CXC Registrar explained that the next step in actualising the MOU would be for an assessment of the capacity of Columbus and CXC. The new alliance will support their access to increased bandwidth, installation of fibre optic wiring in the new headquarters and the establishment of a new eMarking process.
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