Students in western Jamaica get drone training
MONTEGO BAY, St James — Fifth form student and cadet corps member at Spot Valley High School Danielle Bailey is determined to have her schoolmates become more involved with using drone technology.
Her interest was piqued after she saw a demonstration of what the remote controlled aerial vehicles can do.
“We can even start a tech programme at Spot Valley,” she told the Jamaica Observer enthusiastically.
Danielle was one of several students from seven Montego Bay schools who participated in a Drone Pilot Training programme launched by the Sandals Foundation and the Cornwall College Old Boys’ Association on Monday. Training will be done by personnel from the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the Jamaica Fire Brigade (JFB) and Jamaica Defence Force (JDF). Each cohort will last for six to eight weeks. The date for the first one is still being finalised.
Programme organisers say the goal is to “build targeted technical skills and job readiness in global drone technology for St James youth”.
Projects coordinator for the Cornwall College Old Boys’ Association’s Mid-atlantic Chapter in the US, Neville Bell explained that the programme is part of a strategy to help provide students with a growing and necessary skill set.
He noted that the police, army, fire brigade and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) are among agencies that now routinely use drones as part of their operations. Training and recruitment is mainly done in Kingston, hence the move to provide training for youngsters in the western end of Jamaica.
“When they go in, they go in with a leg up on the other recruits,” Bell said of students who will do the drone course.
“Yes, they’ll go in as the same as everybody else who go to the normal training but they have a training that others have not yet acquired,” he continued.
The Sandals Foundation provided 20 drones that will be used to kick-start the programme. Bell said the equipment will only be used for training purposes.
Operations director at the Sandals Foundation Karen Zacca said they were attracted to the initiative because it falls within two important areas of focus: technology and educational benefit for young people.
“What we are interested in right now is upskilling young people so that they leave high school with skills and talents. A skill that can really take them into a myriad of different employment opportunities — from entertainment, security to environmental,” she said.
“Our contribution comes through funding of the initial training drones of which there are 20, and these would be for the pilot programme,” Zacca said.
She said these lower grade drones are part of an overall contribution of more than “US$10,000 towards the drone pilot digital programme”.
Training will be done on the grounds of Cornwall College through guidance from the United States Federal Aviation Authority Part 107 Course — the one used to certify most drone operators in the US.
The course incorporates the laws governing the use of drones, the science behind flying the aircraft, plus a practical component.
According to Bell, part of the project will include maintenance to ensure longevity of the equipment.
Bailey and a peer from Spot Valley High joined students from Cornwall College, Herbert Morrison Technical High, Maldon High, Irwin High, Montego Bay High School for Girls, and Mount Alvernia for the opportunity to learn about drones.
Irwin High’s Alex Petgrave, who has dreams of being in the army, is excited about the course.
“As a fan of drones I want to go into the military to use the drone and to save lives,” he told the Observer.
The youngster said he has already signed up for the JDF, but for now he is looking forward to this initial course in piloting drones.
“I can’t wait,” he remarked. “What I was impressed by is that when you’re flying a drone, it is a tracker. You can locate what you want and if somebody is lighting a fire, you can know who it is through heat sensors on the drone,” he said.
For Cornwall College Head Boy Matthew White, while drones are not necessarily his
area of interest, he welcomed the opportunity for his schoolmates to benefit.
“We have a robotics club at the school and therefore this should fit right in with what we want to do,” he noted.
“It’s something I would definitely recommend a lot of persons to get into. It’s a very versatile training and there are possibilities for them to go into the film industry, environmental work, law enforcement, etc,” he said.
Spot Valley’s Danielle is also eager to share what she learned on Monday.
“When we go back to school my classmate and I will be able to tell our schoolmates what we have learned and to get more people interested to do or learn about it,” she told the Observer.
“We don’t have a club at this time and it’s something I want to go back and speak to our principal and let it be something that the students can learn about. There are a lot of students there who would like to learn about these types of things but they don’t have the opportunity,” she added.