TUTORS FROM the Harvard Law School's Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Texas Instruments will be in Jamaica this summer to participate in the second annual summer school for computer teens by TechSchool 2000.

Several overseas-based TechSchool students who have been working online with their counterparts in Jamaica will also be brought to Jamaica by American Airlines from the USA, the Far East, Central America and the Caribbean to participate in the July 15 to August 15 programme.

These include 15-year-old cyber businesswoman, Melissa Sconyers who operates a web-design firm from her Texas home and Amyel Oliveros and Anna Pascual from the Philippines who are members of a digital youth workshop. They will join Jamaican TechSchool students from high schools such as Immaculate Conception, Dunoon Technical, Priory, St. George's and Calabar.

The brainchild of Barbara Blake-Hannah who operates the Kingston-based school with her son Makonnen Blake-Hannah, TechSchool 2000 was established last August. It was set up in recognition that Jamaica possesses a pool of bright youngsters whose computer knowledge and skills could be harnessed for positive benefit, said Mrs. Blake-Hannah.

Through its programme of setting up high school computer clubs, TechSchool has reached out into the Jamaican school system to be the island's first cyberschool, with students communicating and receiving instructions on-line.

The summer school is designed to help students to develop their technical skills in areas such as programming, website development, game development, digital audio/video and e-commerce.

The school has also established links with the prestigious Harvard Law School whose Berkman Centre for Internet and Society proposes to teach Jamaican students online how to build a computer game set in Jamaican history and culture and thereby transfer programming technology skills to the student population.