| Over 430 Region 3 families receive Gov’t laptops - as second phase of 2012 distribution commences |  |  |  |
| Written by GINA |
| Tuesday, 11 September 2012 20:43 |
FOUR hundred and thirty seven Region 3 families are today happy recipients of government’s laptops under the One Laptop for Family (OLPF) programme. The OLPF Secretariat Monday commenced distribution of its second phase for this year.
 Community Liaison Supervisor, OLPF Secretariat Ganand Chanderpaul explains the distribution process to the recipients assembled at the Wales Community Centre, Region Three The recipients also benefited from the first two hours of the mandatory ten-hour training sessions that they must complete before receiving complete ownership of their laptops. This session, which was conducted on site by OLPF trainers, mostly serves to expose the recipients to the laptop, most of whom are first-time users. The distribution exercise will continue at various locations across Region 3 until the end of September. Similar distribution exercises will commence across the country in Regions 2, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10, and will run until the end of the year.  A recipient completes her identification process before receiving her laptop Approximately 2,438 laptops were distributed across the country during the first half of this year. In fact, as of the end of June 2012, a total of 11,149 of the devices were distributed under the programme. The OLPF programme remains one of the key components of government’s Communication Strategy, aimed at improving the social and economic welfare of all Guyanese. The programme, pioneered by former President Bharrat Jagdeo, was launched in 2011, to be implemented over a three-year period for the benefit of 90,000 less fortunate families. He believed that every Guyanese must have the skills to function in the world of tomorrow, and as such, pushed the implementation and development of ICT locally. Scores of ICT labs have been constructed in secondary schools across the country, and the fiber optic cable from Brazil to Guyana will ensure that high speed internet becomes readily available and also create  A recipient with his laptop ICT is being viewed as a knowledge based sector which has high value in today’s world, given the volume of wealth it holds for the future, and it is one of the new sectors expected to generate greater disposable income for Guyanese and lead to the creation of thousands of jobs. At present, the devices are mostly being distributed to persons earning $50,000 or less, the differently-abled and single parents. The OLPF secretariat in May indicated that it was open to applications from persons earning up to $100,000.  Recipients undergoing the first two hours of their mandatory ten-hour training sessions The programme seeks to empower poor and working class Guyanese with the modern means of enhancing their education, livelihood and personal ambitions, through the use of computer technology. The OLPF became a victim of the Opposition’s 2012 budget cuts in April, and shortly after, during the celebrations of Guyana and China’s 40th anniversary of their relations, the Chinese offered Guyana 30,000 laptops through a US$8M grant-gift agreement. Families joining the programme will inevitably come face to face with the infinite range of opportunities and possibilities for self-development, business and growth that reside in the global marketplace made possible through the worldwide-web |