June 10, 2011 - Officials from the National Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (NTRC), the Telecommunications Department, Ministry of Education and LIME signed the Universal Service Fund (USF) Contract Document on Tuesday, 7th June, 2011 at the NIS Conference room.

NTRC Chairman, Mr. Sehon Marshall, said that he was proud to be a part of the document signing which signaled the provision of Internet access to educational institutions. According to Marshall, Internet access in these institutions is in context with the "one lap top per child" initiative. He also said that the Internet is a tool that must be recognized for its importance in the world.

The installation and maintenance of hardware software and internet connectivity at the 107 educational institutions throughout St. Vincent and the Grenadines is the culmination of two years of planning by the NTRC, stated USF Administrator, Mr. Kyron Duncan. He said that two bids were received from local Internet serve providers and that LIME was awarded a five years contract to provide one hundred and seven educational institutions  with internet connectivity at a cost of $5,230,623. Duncan also said that LIME is responsible for the maintenance of the network.

Country Manager, LIME, Mr. Angus Steele, said that this will contribute to make the nation an Information Communications Technologies (ICTs) center of excellence. Steele also said that LIME supports the "one laptop per child" initiative and that it will create highly skilled and employable young adults, locally and regionally.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Nicole Bonadie-Baker, said that training will continue for teachers for them to become familiar with using the technology. She said that by June 10th all net books will be delivered to pupils of grades 2-5 in all schools. Bonadie-Baker acknowledged that with the use of the Internet there is the need to protect the children from accessing undesirable material therefore a content management committee will be established.

Director of Telecommunications, Science and Technology, Dr. Jerrol Thompson, reiterated the concern of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education pertaining to filtering violent and pornographic content. He said that LIME will need to filter such content. Dr. Thompson also said when parents are trained to use technology they will have better oversight in managing their children’s usage of the net books.