THE Education Ministry has already started preparations for Education Month which will be held under the theme: ‘Transforming Guyana through science and technology in education’. Deputy Chief Education Officer (Development) Ms. Bibi Ali has been appointed convenor of the month of activities which will begin in September.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh intends to open the activities with the hosting of a technology fair which is slated to be opened by President Bharrat Jadgeo.
A date for the fair as well as the other activities for the month will be announced shortly, the Ministry of Education said in a statement.
Some of the activities planned include the launching of the J.O.F. Haynes debating competition, a Children’s Parliament, the GUYAID essay competition award ceremony, the National Award Ceremony, the national spelling bee competition sponsored by GT&T, a children’s rally to observe World Literacy Day, and the distribution of gifts for newborns on World Literacy Day.
This year, some 2000 teachers across the country will be trained to use the computer as a teaching and learning tool and under the World Bank US$4.2M funded Teacher Reform Project, new state-of-the-art laboratories will be constructed at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and the Faculty of Education and Humanities, University of Guyana.

Baksh underlined that the goal of these innovations is to ensure that every teacher in the school system and those leaving the teachers’ training college are equipped with the requisite skills to use the computer as a tool to enhance and support learning.

“ICT is a major plank of the ministry’s 2008-2013 Education Strategic Plan, and the visionary documentation places significant attention on the knowledge deepening process and the realisation of government’s vision to bridge the digital divide,” the ministry stated.

The ministry, in the plan, is hoping to equip all secondary schools and 50 per cent of primary schools with IT laboratories by 2013.

To date, work on 70 of 110 secondary schools has been completed, and Baksh has reported that the remainder will be completed this year. Also, some 60 primary schools have already been equipped with IT laboratories and another 40 will be outfitted this year.

The government has approved some US$1.4M for the purchase of computers for secondary schools and the Global Partnership for Literacy (GPL) has made a commitment to install systems in 50 schools.

GPL has so far done so at six schools, and Baksh said he has been in contact with the organisation to honour its stated commitment. Each school will have at least 30 computers.

Several alumnus associations, non-governmental organisations and other agencies have also come forward in support of the drive.

Recently, the Education Ministry has joined forces with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and Microsoft to focus attention on the implementation of plans to develop the capacity of local teachers to use technology more effectively in the classroom.

The partnership with COL will see the development of a new set of training modules for teachers; a thorough review of two key components of the ICT in education initiative; a comprehensive audit of the current capacity of the country’s teachers in public schools to use ICT effectively; working with global partners to secure international accreditation for these training modules; and the implementation of a robust, three-tiered governance mode.

Last year, through the partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat, a roadmap to implement UNESCO’s ICT Competence Framework for Teachers was developed.

This internationally recognised framework provides clear pathways for teachers to develop their ability to use computers effectively to support teaching and learning.

The Education Ministry is also moving to double the number of students sitting IT at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations.

At the national level, the government is making preparations for the roll out of the One Lap Top Per Family programme.