— distribution of laptops to teachers to start in two weeks

SINCE the commencement of the new academic term, some 100 education institutions have been connected to high-speed Internet services and the Government in the next two weeks will begin distribution of laptops for teachers.Head of the E-Government Unit Floyd Levi said every secondary school in Regions Three, Four, Five and Six is now connected to the E-Government 4G LTE (Long Term Evolution) network which extends from Skeldon, Berbice to Charity, Essequibo Coast.
In addition, all high Schools in Georgetown and its environs have also been connected to the fibre-optic network that surrounds the city.
Regional Democratic Council (RDC) offices in the respective regions have been connected to the same networks as well, a release from the Public Telecommunications Ministry said
Public Telecommunications Minister Cathy Hughes sees this development as the beginning of a long-overdue process that will ultimately enhance Information Communication Technology (ICT) literacy across Guyana.
She told reporters on Friday that getting schools connected can really start the transformation process Government envisions, pointing out that Guyana is moving in the direction where students can now access textbooks online.
“For developing countries like Guyana that are dealing with several financial challenges, it really can change the way we do a lot of things,” the minister said, as she informed the media that the distribution of laptop for teachers will begin in the next two weeks.

TECHNICAL/VOCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
Only last week, the Project Management Team in the E-Government Unit announced that it had completed installing equipment to connect the computer laboratories at all secondary schools and the technical/vocational institutes in East and West Berbice and East and West Demerara.
By the end of the week, all high schools in Georgetown and its environs had been connected as were all technical/vocational institutes.
The latter includes the Upper Corentyne, New Amsterdam and Mahaicony Technical Institutes in Regions Five and Six; the Government Technical Institute, the Guyana Industrial Training Centre and the Carnegie School of Home Economics in Region Four; and the Leonora Technical Institute in Region Three.
The teams will very shortly move to Region Two, Essequibo Coast, to connect approximately six schools before heading to the far inland areas and hinterland regions.
To date, 16 schools in Region Six, including Tagore Memorial and Winifred Gaskin Secondary have been connected. Seven secondary schools in Region Five were connected, including Mahaicony and Bygeval Secondary schools.
In Region Four, between Mahaica, East Coast Demerara through Georgetown to Covent Garden Secondary, East Bank Demerara, some 41 secondary schools have been connected to the fibre-optic network.
At West Demerara, 11 schools up to Parika are now connected to the Internet via their computer labs and administrative offices.
This initiative is a vital part of the Ministry of Education’s five-year strategic plan which was drafted some years ago. It was hinged on operationalisation of the ill-fated fibre-optic cable that the previous Government had ‘landed’ from neighbouring Brazil.
This cable was supposed to have been laid sub-terraneously along the Linden to Lethem corridor, then along the Soesdyke/Linden Highway to connect with the fibre-optic Internet network in the city.

BADLY HANDLED
A studied analysis of the severely damaged cable is still in progress. Reports state that it was very badly handled by the contractors who should have buried the full length of the cable at least three feet below the top soil.
Because this cable is currently unusable, Internet connection for schools and public service agencies in inland and hinterland communities will now take longer than the original Education Ministry strategic plan for education connection had anticipated.
The E-Government Unit is determined to satisfy the original ministry’s objective of completing the connection of all schools and institutes located within the radius of any LTE tower within the first two weeks of this 2016 academic Christmas term.
The specified timeframe is mainly to accommodate students preparing for the next round of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) examinations.
They are required to submit their School-Based Assessment (SBA) projects online, and many of their reading materials are available only in e-libraries.
Easy connectivity at schools will make the Internet much more accessible for many students. In addition, the simultaneous community-connection programme taking place in the same geographical regions will make it even easier for students to access the Internet for their reading and research materials.
The inter-connectivity programme is progressing well and the ultimate objective is to have every single public entity connected to the national ICT network, the Public Telecommunications Ministry said.