Education Commissioner Rita A. Sablan said the students will soon have eBooks too.
The Board of Education has already requested the Public School System to explore the possibility of investing in eBooks for students, she said.
The laptops were funded by the $11 million in additional funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Congressman Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan said PSS can portion of the fund for its eBook project.
Excited
Students and teachers from public junior and high schools on Rota and Tinian witnessed the turnover of laptops through real-time video communication technology.
KagHS sophomore student Ryna Chong was very thankful to get a laptop.
“I am very excited and happy. This will allow us to be in touch with new technology,” she said.
KagHS principal Alfred B. Ada led school officials in acknowledging and accepting the laptops.
The ceremony was also attended by PSS federal programs officer Tim Thornburgh, Commerce Secretary Michael Ada, Board Education acting Chairwoman Marylou Ada, associate commissioner for curriculum and instruction Jackie Quitugua, Board of Education member Herman T. Guerrero, Commerce Deputy Secretary Sixto Igisomar, PSS finance officer Richard Waldo, State Advisory Council president Juan M. Sablan as well as PSS network administration and IT officials.
Significant
Quitugua lauded education and government officials for their strong and focused leadership.
She said CNMI leaders continue to find ways to improve the school system.
“The board is very committed to raising the standards of education,” Ada said, as she reminded students to use the laptops for educational purposes only.
The distribution of the laptops was very “significant and historical,” according to Education Commissioner Sablan, because the CNMI was the first insular area to receive laptops from the ARRA funds.
The laptops are part of the school system’s One Laptop Per Child Project.
They will be distributed to private and public schools for the use of seventh to 12th graders.
Over 5,000 laptops, which cost $2.2 million, were delivered last month to PSS.
The Dell Latitude 2100 laptop costs $399 each.
