Tertiary Education Minister: AI Should Support Education, Not Replace Thinking
Keep thinking.
That was the message from Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training, Professor Prakash Persad, as he addressed students at the Shell NXPLORERS Awards Ceremony on Friday.
Delivering the feature address, he encouraged students to embrace technology, including computers and artificial intelligence, but cautioned against becoming overly dependent on them.
He stressed that while these tools can support learning, critical thinking must remain at the core of education.
« Keep on using new technology but do not stop thinking. There is a growing movement now where people are saying, for the first time, at least one commentator in the United States is saying that, and other places also, that with the increased use of technology, technology is no longer supporting education, education is being used to support technology. And for the first time in the US they are saying that the succeeding generation is not as smart as the existing. »
The Minister also revealed that his Ministry is actively working to reform the education system and strengthen digital skills from an early level.
« In that regard, partnering with the Ministry of Education, we want to start training teachers to be able to use, start coding, physical coding at the primary schools and, if possible, secondary schools. But right now we can’t start these programmes if the teachers cannot do it. »
Meanwhile, Chairman of NIHERST, Dr. Indira Rampersad, highlighted the success of the partnership with Shell.
« The programme moved from STEM to STEAM to STREAM. Since then that partnership has grown significantly, with more than 80,000 students along with over 1,500 teachers in Trinidad and Tobago participating and being exposed to new ways of thinking, collaborating and solving real-world challenges. »
In the Secondary School category, Arima Secondary captured first place, while UWI took first and second place at the tertiary level.
