Let me start by thanking the EduFocal team for inviting me to make a few remarks today. It’s an exciting occasion and I’m thrilled to be here in any capacity.

I’m going to ask you to indulge me for a minute. In keeping with the educational theme, I’d like to ask you to raise your hands if you have a personal twitter account.

And keep your hand up only if you’ve personally made a post to twitter in the past seven days.

Thanks. The relevance of that question today is that I met Gordon on Twitter. Were it not for that fledgling communication medium, neither I, nor more importantly BCIC’s money, would be present today.

I see that as an illustration of the opportunities that can be thrown up through the use of interactive technology.

What I know about the educational system is what I have gleaned from having three children in school, and also by being married to a lady who I, and her students, consider to be the best school teacher in Jamaica.

But like many, I have pondered on the issues facing us in Jamaica as we struggle to make it possible for our young to deliver on their enormous, if not limitless potential. I have looked at school buildings that are shuttered for a quarter of the year, and thought “There must be a way to extract more value from those resources”, even while admitting that getting more from physical resources is only part of the solution.

And then I came across Gordon and EduFocal, who aren’t just thinking outside the ‘box’ or classroom if you will – instead they are promising to blow it up.