750 Churches, Mostly Closed on Weekdays: A University President Wants Them Turned Into Tech Learning Centres

• NCU president Lincoln Edwards proposed a government-church partnership
• Unused church space would become weekday technology learning centres
• He pointed to the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s 750 churches
• He argued the idea could help steer young men into productive activity

Most of Jamaica’s church buildings sit empty for much of the week. Professor Lincoln Edwards, president of Northern Caribbean University (NCU), wants to change that.

Speaking at the Caribbean Maritime University Industry/Academics Conference 2025 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on October 1, 2025, Edwards called for a partnership between government and churches to turn underused church space into technology learning centres during the week, the Jamaica Observer reported, crediting JIS.

He noted that “most of those churches are closed during the week; they have services on Wednesdays and Saturdays.” Edwards pointed to the Seventh-day Adventist Church as an example: “The Seventh-day Adventist Church organisation has 750 churches and they have human resource capital sitting in those churches, so imagine if you were to place computers in those churches…”

He linked the idea to young men. Technology courses at NCU attract more male students than female ones, he said, adding that “males have a natural affinity for technology; they want to be there, so a number of the social problems we are having with males could be helped.” Professor Andrew Spencer, president of the Caribbean Maritime University, also spoke at the conference about how teaching must change in the age of artificial intelligence.

The proposal is about education, but it is also a question about how Jamaica uses its buildings. Churches own a great deal of built space in almost every community, much of it standing idle for most of the week. Turning that space to weekday use raises practical questions about insurance, security, maintenance, electricity and who pays for them. It also means churches get more value from buildings they already own. For diaspora congregations and donors weighing where to give, equipping a church hall to serve as a learning centre may be one of the better investments in a building that already exists.

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