AFTER months of vigorous preparations, the second batch consisting of 10 visually impaired persons have thus far sat their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations with high hopes of success. Ganesh Singh, Project Coordinator of the Guyana Society of the Blind, has expressed his expectations about this second venture. He noted that thus far, some of the students have already written Human and Social Biology and they lauded that it was a “workable” paper.

In relation to the new Government of Guyana, Singh noted that he hopes the new Minister of Education will continue to support the society in its future endeavours.
This is a project fostered by the Guyana Society for the Blind (GSB) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and One Laptop Per Family (OLPF). Unlike in 2014, this year seven subject areas are being offered – Human and Social Biology, Social Studies, Principles of Business, Office Administration, Religious Administration, English Language and Caribbean History.
Yesterday, the students wrote English Language and are preparing to sit the pending subjects next week and in early June.
The project, however, was long nurtured before it was implemented and is a spinoff of another project that sought to teach visually impaired persons how to use computers.
The Blind Society has been collaborating with the One Laptop Per Family Project (OLPF) in order to provide computers for the students, as well as the implementation of the JAWS software which serves as a computer instructor for visually impaired learners.
Moreover, the society was fortunate to benefit from assistance by the Basic Needs Trust Fund, which rehabilitated the society’s building and also provided better furniture to accommodate members as well as the CSEC students.
Last year, Rosemary Ramitt emerged as the top student of the first batch, securing five grade ones along with Odessa Harper who came second in securing five grade two passes at the CSEC examinations.