– set to revolutionise learning
PRESIDENT Bharrat Jagdeo is adamant that despite the critics of the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project, Government will press ahead with the initiative since it is meant to benefit those who presently do not enjoy what more well-off persons may take for granted, and propel Guyana farther along the path to technological advancement. At his press briefing held at State House on Friday, the President said that the Government might have to conduct an income test to determine who is eligible for a laptop. He said from the inception of the programme that the computers would be given to the most vulnerable persons in society.
He questioned why it was that critics of the initiative were opposed to something that would help poor children to have a chance in the world. The President also countered their arguments about transparency, saying that Government will go to international tender for the purchase of the laptops. The computers will have to meet certain specifications and carry a one-year warranty. Outside of the $1.8 billion set aside for the programme in the national budget, the President said that a grant from the People’s Republic of China in the sum of US$8 million would also be used towards the purchase of additional computers.
President Jagdeo said that Huawei, a Chinese networking and telecommunications equipment supplier, donated the 142 computers distributed at the launch of the project. He said also that the Office of the President bought five computers for the staff of the OLPF and a further 20 for employees not connected to the OLPF, debunking allegations that the Kaieteur News has been making for the past weeks.
On January 21, President Jagdeo, at the Guyana International Conference Centre, launched the OLPF, where a number of community groups received donations of laptops from the President himself. During the launch, the President spoke of the way persons could benefit from the initiative, designed to be a part of Guyana’s thrust into the information age on which the future of the country would be reliant.
He said the programme is meant for the child as much as it is meant for the grandmother.
However, the President also explained that the project could be beneficial to all, not just the most vulnerable. “I don’t want other kids not to benefit too, but I am prepared to use a tax credit system or any other system to ensure that they too could have access at a cheaper rate. But we want the poor kids to have these instruments,” he said at the launch.
President Jagdeo explained that while the poor would not be made to pay for the computers, they still have to be earned.

“[The laptop] has to be earned…not that you have to pay for it, but it has to be earned by effort and commitment. People who collect these laptops are not getting them free. You don’t have to pay for them but it requires commitment and effort and a promise to help others once you learn,” President Jagdeo explained.
The President at the launch of the project declared that Guyana cannot be left out of that wealth creation and the future that the country must be a part of. “So there is strong justification for us to allocate large sums of money in this sector because of what I mentioned,” he said in January.
Explaining the rationale behind the project, the President said he decided it would be one laptop per family, rather than per child, since in this way the benefits would be multiplied.
He explained that with the instrument placed in the family, “we can achieve greater connection between the classroom and the home.” He said too that parents can be much more involved in the work of the children in a very interactive way and that the programme would promote a more self-directed kind of learning by the children.
“Thirdly, it enhances educational access and information available to the entire family. They can access information and communicate with people across the world using this method,” he said.
The President said that Guyana must constantly explore, storm and develop new frontiers for creating wealth and opportunities. He noted that the traditional sectors in the country’s economy will continue to be there “but they cannot generate the kind of wealth that would allow for persons to get the kinds of jobs at the income levels allowing them to have a lifestyle comparable to the developed world.”
He said that the allocation of $1.8 billion in the budget for the programme “reflects our intense desire to see this project implemented at a scale and to have it implemented swiftly.” Noting that another day cannot be wasted, he said the world is moving forward and ICT is creating opportunities for many people across the world and “we don’t want our people to be left behind.”