All secondary schools to have functioning IT labs by year end-Minister Manickchand says at commissioning of Bath Primary IT lab

As part of Government’s drive to ensure that every child is Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literate, by year-end all the secondary schools across the country will be equipped with functioning Information Technology (IT) labs.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand made this disclosure during the commissioning of an IT lab at the Bath Primary School, Bath Settlement, Region Five today.

The lab was built to the tune of $6M by Government, and the computers were donated by former student of the school Canadian-based, Anthony Trevor Subyran.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand and Anthony

Trevor Subyran during the unveiling of the plaque to

commemorate the commissioning of the Information

Technology Lab at the Bath Primary School, Region Five

Minister Manickchand, who unveiled the plaque to the lab, said the event marks the beginning of the first step to place more emphasis on equipping primary schools with IT labs so that students will become computer literate at an earlier age.

Minister Manickchand also took the opportunity to enlighten the audience about the 2014 National Budget and what it has in store for the education sector which was allocated $32.3B.

This allocation seeks to improve the quality and provision of education across the country, as the funds will serve to improve infrastructure, train more teachers, provide financial assistance for each child and improve the quality of education from nursery to university.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand explaining some of

the features of the computer to one of the students at the

Bath Primary School

This year, 2,500 teachers are also expected to be trained in ITC, while the University of Guyana will be offering online degree courses.

The Education Minister told the teachers that the labs will also provide the opportunity for them to upgrade their methods of teaching and learn new techniques in IT so that they will be able to do the online courses effectively.

“This budget points to the unfailing commitment of the Administration to ensure that all of Guyana’s children receive quality education,” Minister Manickchand told the gathering. She said that Guyana has had eight consecutive years of positive growth, while pointing outing out that Government has been able to reduce the percentage of people living in poverty by half.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand speaking to those

gathered for the commissioning of the Bath Primary School,

Information Technology Lab

Region Five has already achieved Universal Secondary Education, and Minister Manickchand said that efforts are now in place to further upgrade more schools to ensure that everyone in the region receives the quality of education that is much needed for them to excel.

“We as a government understand that the only sure way that we can guarantee development, is to know that every child has a good education….It is our duty as a government to provide opportunities for every student,” Minister Manickchand noted.

Some of the students gathered at the commissioning

While extending gratitude to Subryan for his contribution, Region Five Chairman, Bindrabhan Bisnauth assured that the lab will be used for the benefit of the students. He said that the region always welcomes public/private partnerships to ensure that education is delivered to every child.

Meanwhile, Regional Education Officer, Owen Pollard spoke of technology and how its use is rapidly becoming more prevalent in today’s society. Pollard said that the Ministry of Education embraces this fact, and urged the students and teachers to maintain the equipment.