THE North Ruimveldt Secondary School (NRSS) was on Friday last both commissioned as an A-List secondary school and simultaneously became the first school in Guyana to have the first interactive Smart Classroom.According to Education Minister Priya Manickchand during her feature address at commissioning of the school, the NRSS is the only school in Guyana to have acquired the first Interactive Smart Classroom.

She also announced that a similar smart classroom would be installed at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and at the Government Technical Institute (GTI).

The Minister said: “Within the coming week, we shall be commissioning the same type of classroom at the Teachers’ Training College, because it is our vision that all teachers graduating from the College be trained in delivering education using various ICT (Information and Communications Technology) means, and it is our intention and promise that all schools will be equipped with this exciting and modern tool.”

She also explained: “Because of conscious and strategic investments over the last five years, we now have computer labs in all secondary schools; as a result of which we have seen a remarkable rise in the number of students sitting IT (Information Technology)-related exams at CSEC (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate), moving from 1,842 students in 2008 to 4,200 students in 2013.”

Minister Manickchand deemed this a significant milestone and said it represents what Guyana is capable of, and how the country can develop. She expounded that this initiative is intended to allow teachers to teach students interactively through technology.

“That is what Guyana is, what Guyana is moving to, and we are going to get there very soon. That is the future of education,” she said.

Yoganand Indarsingh, Head of the Education Ministry’s Management Information Systems (MIS) Unit, expounded on what the smart classroom entails. He mentioned that, at this juncture, the Education Ministry would be providing for the school a tool that would allow its teachers to go ahead of the pack of other schools in this country.

Indarsingh also explained that “all our secondary schools have been provided with computer laboratories, so that we can teach our students, for example software, hardware and other IT aspects; so that we can prepare them for the world of work, further studies and communications.”

He said: “Today, we will introduce a system to this school that will enable a teacher to take this specific device into any classroom of this school and make any surface interactive. This is called an E Beam engaged solution. It is a simple device that has the technology to enable a teacher to transform any surface in the classroom to a ‘work board’, and to use a device resembling a marker to write with”.

This device can also enable students in other classrooms and in other schools to interact during classes, he explained.

The E Beam engage solution turns an ultra-short throw projector into an interactive tool for classrooms, auditoriums, conference rooms, or for anywhere where presentations are given or where there is teaching or collaboration. This software enhances not only the way presentations are created, but also the way educators teach and presenters hold meetings.

By allowing students to work together in a new, engaging and technology-savvy way, it helps increase classroom or meeting participation and motivation amongst peers, he said.

(By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally)