Students at North Ruimveldt Secondary School now have greater access to technology-based training through a newly-established AutoCAD Laboratory that was launched on Monday.
Education Minister Sonia Parag commissioned the new laboratory at the school, stating that the lab will allow students to move beyond traditional technical drawing and gain practical experience using computer-based design technology.
She said students are now being introduced to 3D design, giving them the opportunity to develop skills that can be applied in fields such as architecture and engineering.
“It means for you in Grades 10 and 11, you are no longer just doing [Technical Drawing], you are also now doing 3D designs via the computers, which means you can become a very, very good architect,” the minister said.
Parag said the technology allows students to work with dimensions, improve accuracy and use their creativity to develop designs digitally. It is preparing students with knowledge and skills that reassures them the ability to become employable after graduating secondary school.
The AutoCAD lab forms part of a wider effort to expand technical and vocational education in schools. The Government plans to extend the use of the technology to other schools.
The minister also commissioned an AutoCAD lab at the Hope Secondary School on Monday.
“The idea is that you get the benefit of learning from technology on your own home and your own school system,” the minister said.
Dr Ritesh Tularam, the Deputy Chief Education Office (Technical), said the investment also forms part of efforts to strengthen technical education across the school system.
“For those of us who were teaching Technical Drawing way back, we were accustomed to delivering Technical Drawing using traditional methodology, our students were exposed to a drawing board and a pair of set squares…we recognise that regionally, globally, technology is now playing a critical role in the development of our students,” he said.
He said the Ministry of Education is developing and retooling technical curricula, including a Grades 7 to 9 curriculum, while also working on assessment tools and training technical practitioners. Tularam said the wider objective is to ensure students can leave the school system with technical skills that can contribute to recognised qualifications, including CXC and CVQ certification.
The principal of North Ruimveldt Secondary, Coretta Dundass-Inniss, urged students and teachers to maximise the opportunity, saying the lab should be viewed not simply as a place to learn software but as a space where students can develop problem-solving and design skills and turn ideas into reality.
Source: NEW ROOMS SITE
