So the Ministry of Education sent out the GSAT results to schools on Discs.
Progressive!
The documents were in Adobe Acrobat format (.PDF).
Secure format, universally accessible, good.
Some of the schools had trouble opening the documents because they didn’t have the necessary software to open the files.
Uhhh…? What?!?
The problem was that the documents were made with Adobe Acrobat 9.1.
Ok easily remedied.
“Computer experts” were called in to assess the problem and to find a solution, but they could not make headway with it.
Yeah, Right! 
…
The above situation is totally embarrassing, here is why:
- Adobe Reader is a free (as in ZERO DOLLARS) download from http://www.adobe.com Right on the front page is the link that says “Get Adobe Reader”. It is a simple install.
- These so called “experts”, if any money was paid to them, they are criminals and need to be arrested. It doesn’t require experts to download and install free software, the fact they couldn’t figure the problem out shows they are clearly not experts.
- All this could be avoided if the “geniuses” at the Ministry of Education had simply included a copy of the free Adobe Reader on the disc, send it with a note or letter, informing the school of what to do in order to open the GSAT results.
- If the schools didn’t have an internet connection with which to download and install the Reader? WHY THE HELL NOT?!
- If they did have an internet connection what was so difficult to do in order to get the free software?
- If they were incapable of even thinking about this, didn’t they have IT staff on board to deal with these matters?
- If not? why the hell doesn’t the ministry do something about it?
- Why is Jamaica still scraping at the bottom of the technology curve in our most important sector?
…
I heard this bit of news on RJR this morning . If i was the management of RJR there was no way i would even air this story. Mek we look fool.
…
We really can’t be this backward.
0 Responses to “GSAT Results Debacle”