-Minister Baksh
The Ministry of Education continues to push ahead with plans to not only increase students’ access to Information Technology (IT), but also to ensure that teachers are trained to use the computer as both a teaching and learning tool. In keeping with this thrust, some 70 trainers from the various education districts recently completed a refresher training course at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD). The initiative which was part of the newly launched continuous professional development programmes administered by NCERD aims to bring the ministry closer to achieving the targets set-out for IT in its 2008-2013 strategic plan.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh, speaking at the closing of the basic information technology competency course, disclosed that during the past 18 months, some 3,000 teachers have benefitted from the programme.  
IT remains an important plank of the 2008-2013 strategic plan and the Ministry of Education intends to equip all secondary schools and 50 per cent of primary schools with IT laboratories by 2013.
But Baksh has been plugging for these benchmarks to be achieved much earlier, pointing out no later than next year.
He disclosed that some 70 of the 110 public secondary schools in the country will be outfitted with computer laboratories at the end of the year and works on the remaining schools are expected to be completed by June next year.
According to Baksh, work on the schools slated to have computer laboratories by year end is moving well and each school will have at least 30 computers.    
The minister also stressed that the IT targets in the strategic plan cannot be achieved with government’s resources alone, and appealed to the Guyanese diaspora, the old students’ associations of the various schools, non-governmental organizations, and the business community to play their part.
Apart from the investment by government, he noted that Global Partnership for Literacy (GPL) has made a commitment to install systems in 50 schools; and to date, that Canadian based non-governmental organization has already done so at seven schools.
The alumni of several schools have also stepped forward to help their alma mater, he reported, and emphasized that strides will continue to be made to prepare both teachers and students to be abreast with the changes and developments of the 21st century.
Knowledge deepening
Notably, the IT component of the Ministry of Education five year strategic plan sets Guyana on a trajectory of moving beyond technological literacy into the stage of knowledge deepening. This, of course, will be characterized by an education system where there is knowledge application in complex problem solving, the use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) tools in knowledge dissemination and sharing, and the improvement of teachers’ capacity to guide and facilitate learning.
Baksh said some schools have received computers as part of a UNICEF supported project – Connecting Classrooms. This project is intended to provide online learning support for children in Grades Seven to Nine in core subject areas. Already a web based application has been developed for the publishing of subject lessons, and teachers from selected schools have undergone training in the preparation of content.
In an effort to ensure that teachers are adequately prepared to use computers for teaching and learning, the Ministry of Education has developed an ICT competency framework for teachers.
This plan provides a roadmap for teachers’ professional development in ICT and makes available the training opportunities for teachers to develop appropriate skills. Support for this undertaking has been provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Commonwealth of Learning, and Microsoft Corporation.
Baksh disclosed too that under the new teacher education and training reform agenda, the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) will be equipped with a state-of-the-art computer laboratory and so will the Faculty of Education and Humanities at the University of Education (UG) for teachers pursuing education programmes.
The minister also said that every teacher who graduates from the college must be computer literate and on that point he proposed a scheme to provide a lap top for every trainee teacher at the college who is prepared to fund half the cost to acquire a system.
This proposal aside, Baksh is hoping to acquire some of the 90,000 lap tops from the President’s initiative to be available for trainee teachers free of cost which is a better deal than the initial proposal.
He said that the distribution of the lap tops from the president’s initiative will be done through a phased approach and emphasized the supporting role of his ministry to ensure that the programme yields the required benefits.
Increasing access and student entries
These developments, among other things, are aimed at not only increasing students’ and teachers’ access to IT, but also to get more students to sit the subject at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.
During the past three years, the number of candidates sitting the subject and the pass rate in Grades One to Three has been encouraging. In 2008, some 1200 candidates took the examination and a 78 per cent pass rate was recorded; in 2009 the number of candidates increased to 1600 and the pass rate was 84 per cent; and in 2010, though 1547 candidates sat the examinations, a slight decline from the previous year, 86 per cent pass the examination with Grades One to Three.
Baksh lauded the teachers of the subject for the impressive results but called on them to increase the 1600 candidates to 6,000 in the shortest possible time.
Every child who leaves the school system, the minister underlined, must be computer literate, and he noted that this bench mark, along with the goals set-out in the IT component of the 2008-2013 strategic plan, are tied to the National Development Strategy.
He said too that the investments made are in keeping with the government’s recognition of IT as the vehicle to jumpstart economic growth and development and cultural and social transformation.
An optimistic Baksh noted that the future for ITC advancement in Guyana is bright as the infrastructure is in place to herald the take-off, pointing to the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company’s recently acquired fiber optic cable and a similar cable that is due to arrive here from Brazil.
The Ministry of Education has also set up a multi-media centre at NCERD which will, apart from complementing the programmes on the television and radio to advance the education agenda, will also promote distance education and e-learning.
However, the minister said the development of content for the dedicated education channel to come on stream early next year is a challenge.
He said that some of the materials can be obtained from abroad free of cost, while some will have to be paid for; but he was optimistic that when the intervention comes into full operation, it will significantly aid his ministry’s effort to ensure that no child is left behind.