As Guyana pursues a ‘green’ agenda for sustainable development through the expansion of such industries as eco-tourism and the scaling up the use of renewable energy options the Government recognises that the education delivery and curriculum must be responsive to the developmental needs of the country. That need is deepened when one considers the Government’s infrastructural development policy, which calls for road and bridge networks, which link the hinterland and the coastland as well as the introduction of the oil and gas sector, which must be developed in a way that does not contradict the ‘green’ state agenda.

Attaining this goal will require a highly-skilled workforce, particularly in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). Growing this talent pool requires action across many sectors such as schools, tertiary institutions, the public service, the private sector and at the community level, all working towards a common goal. The Government of Guyana recognises this and is working to put measures in place to build capacity and meet the increasing demand for STEM skills among the population.

National Endowment for Science and Technology
President David Granger, in addition to the ‘Boats, Buses, Bicycles plus Breakfast and Books’ or Five B’s programme, established the National Endowment for Science and Technology (NEST) in 2017, which is aimed at boosting the Science and Technology laboratories in schools across the country.

Through this programme, 13 schools; Queen’s College, Bishops High, St. Roses High, St. Joseph High and the St. Stanislaus College, all from Georgetown; Anna Regina Multilateral from the Pomeroon-Supenaam Region; Zeeburg Secondary and the Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) Hindu School on the West Coast of Demerara; President’s College on the East Coast of Demerara; Rosignol Secondary, West Coast, Berbice; Berbice High in East Berbice-Corentyne; Three-Miles Secondary in Bartica and the Mackenzie High School in Linden, were able to benefit from one million dollars each for the development of their laboratories.

In his address to the 2017 graduating class of St. Stanislaus College on November 18, 2017 at the National Cultural Centre (NCC), the Head of State said that this endowment is not a fluke or gimmick but it is his commitment, which is aimed at ensuring that the skill sets needed to develop the country are honed and encouraged.

“The country needs biologists, botanists and zoologists to document and study its rich biodiversity; engineers to erect infrastructure in its hinterland and to install hydroelectric, wind, solar and biomass energy plants and Information and Communication technologists to extend communications services; geologists and gemologists to provide services for the sustainable management of our extractive sectors and agriculturists, chemists, physicists and physicians to promote food security and enhance human health and well-being,” he said.

At the handing over of three ‘David G’ buses at the Durban Park in August 2017, President Granger said Guyana must begin to produce empowered young people who are versed in these areas and can positively develop the rich potential of this nation into real benefits for the citizens. “Guyanese you are living in the largest CARICOM state, the most beautiful, the most bountiful, but yet the largest region in Guyana; the Rupununi does not have a proper highway. Our rivers do not have proper stellings. Some of the aerodromes need repairing and refurbishing. Who will do it? Foreigners, no! We have to train a generation of Guyanese engineers and mathematicians; children, who 10 or 20 years from now will become our engineers,” he said.

Technology in classrooms
To ensure that this vision becomes a reality, the Government through the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Public Telecommunications and the National Data Management Agency (NDMA), has embarked on an ambitious plan to ensure that Information Communication Technology (ICT) forms a central part of education delivery in the classroom and that more students and teachers have access to the World Wide Web.

The National Information and Communication Technology Strategy is intended to provide the framework to guide the development of the ICT sector and a key component of it will ensure a greater presence of ICT in the classroom. Part of its outcome objectives is focused on the development of smart classrooms and eLibraries for distance education and eLearning. However, for eLearning to be possible, teachers themselves must be comfortable with ICT and must have access to computers and other such devices if they are to lead the way towards a smarter classroom. President Granger wants to ensure that teachers across the country have access to computers.

The One Laptop Per Teacher (OLPT) initiative forms part of the larger Improving Digital Equity, Access and Learning (IDEAL) programme that also includes connectivity to the internet for schools. The IDEAL programme was launched in September 2016 by President Granger as the beginning of a process of ICT transformation throughout the education system. It has concluded and approximately 9,000 laptops, which are pre-programmed with the necessary teaching syllabus and material, have been distributed to teachers across the country.

According to the ICT Unit of the Ministry of Education, it has successfully trained more than 5,500 teachers in Basic Computer Literacy. Additionally, 180 Secondary School teachers are competent to deliver the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) ICT syllabi and over 150 Primary schools trained in the use of low-cost technology.

The National Data Management Authority’S (NDMA) Secondary School’s Internet Connectivity Project helps to achieve the goal for greater ICT in schools. To date, 84 Secondary schools, 89 primary schools, 21 tertiary education, training and skills building institutions and nine technical vocational training schools in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five and Six have been connected to the eGovernment network and provided with internet access with more schools scheduled to be added to the network by the end of the year. Plans to extend this network to communities in the Hinterland are already underway. The connectivity programme is another testimony of the Government’s push for the implementation of STEM, which President Granger has said should be embedded in all levels of the schools’ curricula. Further to this, the NDMA, up to April 5, 2018, has established 110 ICT Hubs across the country, with the target being at least 190 hubs for 2018. Students, particularly those without internet access at home, are now able to complete research, assignments and other school-based activities, which require internet services free of cost.

STEM Education bearing fruit
The focus on STEM education, though in its early phases, is beginning to bear fruit according to Minister of Education, Ms. Nicolette Henry. She noted that students are now exposed to hands-on interactive experiences in the classrooms enabling them to better relate to the new areas of knowledge. “One of the great benefits I believe of the STEM education is the ability to promote critical thinking both in and out of the classroom. We have witnessed the use of micro-science kits that certainly would have proven useful in the teaching of Science in our schools, and these kits augment and in some cases provide alternatives to science labs, that are not found in primary schools. Through this students now have the opportunity to work individually or in small groups on various practicals that are not only mandated by CSEC but help students to develop investigative skills and competencies,” Minister Henry said.

The Minister added that students at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) level have shown improvement in their experimental abilities and have achieved better grades in various subject areas.

Last year, Guyana performed exceptionally well at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), securing 100 percent pass rates (Grades One to Five) in 30 units, including Computer Science Unit 1, Information Technology Units 1 and 2, Applied Mathematics Unit 2, Animation and Gaming Units 1 and 2 and Digital Media Units 1 and 2. The country also secured an overall percent pass rate of 92 at the examination.

Chief Education Officer of the Ministry of Education, at the launch of STEM Bartica in February 2018, said that that it is time for Guyana to move away from the traditional ‘chalk and talk’ approach to learning onto a more ‘learning by doing’ approach in the classroom. This he said, is possible through STEM. “As we prepare new generations to live well in a changing world, we recognise that learning by doing is an essential part of education for sustainability. For too long our children have not been doing well in the classroom because learning would have been reduced to just ‘chalk and talk’ and now we are moving beyond that because we recognise the importance of our children actively engaging in the process of education delivery,” he said.

STEM and Robotics
Overseas-based Guyanese, Ms. Karen Abrams brought the Robotics Camp to Guyana in August 2016 and since then Robotics Clubs have been established all across Guyana. Through the Office of the First Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger, strong focus is placed on training programmes, particularly in the area of ICT in various communities including Buxton/Friendship and Lusignan, which are being run parallel to the President’s NEST programme.

First Lady, Mrs. Sandra Granger speaking at Guyana’s first STEM Robotics Exhibition in June 2017, emphasised the importance of an advanced ICT system if the country is to be on par with international best practices. Mrs. Granger said, “Computer Science and technology are going to be where the jobs will be. As a matter of fact, it is predicted that 75 percent of the jobs in the future will be in Computer Science. So if the children and young people in Guyana don’t catch onto that idea, while also becoming literate and numerate, we are going to be in a society that is always catching up and not quite getting there.” Events of this nature, the First Lady said, are aimed at unleashing the creative potential of Guyana’s youth in the use of Science and Technology for the development of their communities and the country in a global digitised era.

Mrs. Granger explained that she is determined to ensure that every town, village and community is targeted so that every child can become exposed to the possibilities of STEM education. She said that once facilities and opportunities are made available, more children will be drawn to these areas of study and this can only lead to the further growth and development of the country.

“My concern has always been that young people can see all the possibilities and STEM offers them those opportunities; that they can see themselves developing and getting into a profession that they will love. Any child today is absorbed in technology so you have to stimulate that interest and maintain it and through STEM. My main focus is to get it to every child and I mean every child in the rural areas, the hinterland, the towns, in our less well-endowed communities and challenged homes, to give them that opportunity to see that they can do it and that has been our experience wherever we go with the Robot kits and so the aim is to get every kid in Guyana into Robotics,” she said.

The Government’s push for the development of STEM does not stop at the school level. In its 2017 National Budget, the Government introduced a $50M Youth Innovation Fund (YIF), which caters to young people, who wish to advance their creative ideas in the field of science and technology. The programme focuses on both in and out of school youth and is in keeping with the Government’s ‘green’ agenda and will focus on solutions for the reduction of fossil fuel usage and the STEM programme. Under YIF, young people across Guyana can begin to tap into their creative abilities with the use of modern technology to explore how they can contribute to the development of ‘green’ technology and the increased use of clean energy.

The in-school component is aimed at raising awareness among primary and secondary level students by having them participate in competitive activities that will challenge them to create solutions to address current global challenges while utilising STEM subjects. Out-of-school youths will be required to submit proposals of projects, which they believe can benefit their communities. These proposals will then be reviewed and those that meet the criteria will be selected by a panel from the Ministry of Education, Department of Culture, Youth and Sport. The YIF will be accessible across all the regions, with Ministry officials stationed in each region to assist the participants with their proposals.

STEM and Climate Change
With climate change and global warming becoming greater concerns particularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the Office of Climate Change (OCC) of the Ministry of the Presidency, understands that STEM has a role to play mitigating risks associated with these phenomena. In this regard, in January, 12 teachers from Bartica, along with four community stakeholders, underwent a one-day training workshop in STEM and Robotics, aimed at equipping them with technological skills, which can assist in providing modern solutions to the challenges of transitioning Bartica, Cuyuni-Mazaruni (Region Seven) to the first model ‘green’ town in Guyana and the Caribbean.

Noting that robotics itself offers innovative possibilities for developing waste management and energy generation solutions among other things, Project Manager of the Bartica Transitioning to National Energy Security Project, Mr. Gavin Bovell, explained that the OCC is cognisant of the fact that science and technology play a critical role in developing solutions to many common issues.

Following this, the OCC on February 27, 2018, in collaboration with STEM Guyana and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) or 5Cs launched the STEM Bartica Programme at the Three Miles Secondary and Bartica Secondary schools.

Speaking at the launch, Head of the OCC, Ms. Janelle Christian explained that a pillar in the fight against climate change is the transitioning to renewable energy. “We often talk about our young people being the future but how do we get them involved? We need to build skills starting now. We need to build their confidence; we need to expose them to new technology, tools and concepts, so that they will be confident enough to fill those leadership roles that we often, so abstractly speak about,” she said.