-as deadline for submission of application comes to an end
Hundreds flocked the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) Secretariat, Camp Street, to submit their application forms, in compliance with the deadline for submission yesterday.
The event, which was also used as a verification process for many, saw scores of senior citizens, teachers, fire-fighters and school children submitting their forms.
Customer Relations Representative, Shanel Ferguson, in an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA), said that thus far, the programme has received overwhelming response from the public.
She added that while the programme will see 90,000 eligible Guyanese benefiting from a computer system, phase one, which will be executed this year, will deliver 50,000 laptops to priority groups.
Yesterday’s event provided an opportunity for applicants to complete forms with the assistance of OLPF staff who offered an ‘on-the-ground’ review of the programme criteria.
“The first batch of phase one will include single parents and differently-abled and other families who earn a monthly income of $50,000 per month and below,” she said.
Public Relations Officer, Dario McAlmon, highlighted that while it is the aim of government to ensure that everyone benefits from a laptop computer; a verification process will be now conducted to ensure that information provided by applicants is accurate.

He said this move is to ensure that individuals who are in dire need benefit from the initiative which will also see beneficiaries and their family members within the household benefiting from training, with the aim of better developing their computer skills.
“This is necessary, because we don’t want to have only the beneficiary knowing how to properly operate the computer, and when a member of his/her household uses the equipment, it is damaged,” he said.
Successful applicants will be required to commit to a specific number of hours of community work, through a mutually agreed community project.
(GINA)