The Bahamas Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Selects Promethean Solutions for New Education Initiative

The Bahamas Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST) has selected global education technology solutions leader Promethean to provide students throughout The Bahamas archipelago of islands equitable access to advanced education opportunities. Supporting the Ministry’s Bahamas Education Initiative, Promethean is working with the Ministry to bring the company’s Modern Classroom solution to life in all Bahamian schools.

This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151221005272/en/

“We are honored to work with the Ministry and Bahamian educators in their efforts to synchronize distance-learning opportunities,” said Jim Marshall, CEO of Promethean. “With the Modern Classroom, a teacher in any school can teach any subject to any student in any location live—with video, sound, images and interactive material. The students will receive the lesson content in real-time and be able to respond instantaneously to the teacher. Opening the door for distance learning on this scale creates exciting possibilities and removes barriers. Students have no limits to what they can achieve—all they need is access to learning.”

While the island of New Providence is home to almost 70% of Bahamians, 30% of citizens reside on the other islands, collectively known as the Family Islands. Providing advanced coursework to students in many of the Family Islands is logistically difficult. Through this partnership with Promethean, the Ministry is creating a framework to provide all students access to the same coursework, regardless of their geographical location.

As a first step in this partnership, Promethean’s consulting division engaged with the Ministry to assess their needs and recommend solution-focused options. The consulting division developed a data-based, decision-making methodology with a plan for systemic implementation by the Ministry, then trained Ministry staff to ensure the interactive technology would truly transform education, not simply repeat the same instructional practices with new equipment.

The Promethean Bahamas Education Initiative also provides technical expertise to assist the Ministry in expanding programs in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). “A modern Bahamas realizes that education and technology make for a winning combination, especially in this technological era in which our children are being raised,” said The Honourable Jerome K. Fitzgerald, Minister of Education, Science and Technology of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. “Education is utilizing technology so that our children are more engaged and prepared for a modern world. The MOEST will continue to place emphasis on STEM education and will encourage students to explore subjects and careers in STEM fields. STEM education is now a global phenomenon and will help to define the future.”

In The Bahamas, the Modern Classroom includes ClassFlow™, an interactive lesson delivery system from Promethean, which capitalizes on the Ministry’s previous integration of Promethean interactive whiteboards into classrooms. Together, these technology resources provide students on the Family Islands with the ability to take coursework not previously offered to them and to participate in a synchronous learning environment, increasing academic achievement and allowing all students to finish high school ready for college or careers.

As part of the Initiative, Promethean and the Ministry are building computer coding modules to be delivered through ClassFlow. The coding modules, and later coursework also to be developed in ClassFlow, are part of the ongoing effort to provide equitable access to learning. The initial implementation earned positive reviews from teachers.

“Invigorating! Exciting! Explorative! Before I could even get into the lesson, they had already created their own projects and were showing me what they had done,” said Anslem Chea, a teacher at N. G. M. Major High School on The Bahamas’ Long Island. “Students can’t wait until we meet for class again.” The students as well as the teachers are engrossed in this initiative and have embraced it from the onset.

As the MOEST aligns with global best practices and seeks to adhere to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education, distance learning has become a priority in order to bring equity to education, given the geographical nature of The Bahamas. This partnership with Promethean and the adoption of ClassFlow is one of the many paths that will help the Bahamian education system achieve optimal performance and productivity of both teachers and students.

For more information on Promethean, visit www.PrometheanWorld.com.

For more information on The Bahamas Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, visit www.bahamaseducation.com/.

About Promethean

Promethean is a global education company that improves learning productivity by developing, integrating and implementing innovative 21st century learning environments that help make everyone more engaged, empowered, and successful. Promethean’s main corporate offices are located in Blackburn, UK and Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Promethean is a member of the NetDragon Websoft, Inc. (HKSE: 0777) group of companies. For more information, please visit www.prometheanworld.com.

About The Bahamas Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology has responsibility for more than 76,000 K-12 students in more than 270 educational institutions in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas, which are dispersed over 14 districts in nearly 30 islands. The mission of the Ministry is to provide opportunities for all persons in The Bahamas to receive the education and training that will equip them with the necessary beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, and skills required for work and life in an interdependent, ever-changing world. One of the main goals of the Ministry of Education “is to create an educational system that is technologically sound and competitive and that develops the strength of each child, whether academic or otherwise, towards the maximum contribution that he/she is able to make to the national development of The Bahamas.”

About NetDragon Websoft Inc.

NetDragon Websoft Inc. (HKSE: 0777) is a leading innovator and creative force in China's mobile Internet industry. Established in 1999, NetDragon is a vertically integrated, cutting-edge R&D powerhouse with a highly successful track record which includes the development of flagship MMORPGs (Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games) such as Eudemons Online and Conquer Online, China’s number one online gaming portal, 17173.com, and China's most influential smartphone app store platform, 91 Wireless, which was sold to Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU) in 2013 as the largest Internet M&A transaction in China at the time. Being China's pioneer in overseas expansion, NetDragon also directly operates a number of game titles in over 10 languages internationally since 2003. In recent years, NetDragon has become a major player in global online and mobile learning space as it works to leverage its mobile Internet technologies and operational know-how to develop a game-changing learning ecosystem. For more information, please visit www.netdragon.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151221005272/en/