– say focus on ICT development is critical

MINISTER of Education Dr. Nicolette Henry and Minister of Public Telecommunication, Cathy Hughes have shared their satisfaction with the $52.2B budgetary allocation for the Education sector.

Speaking exclusively to the Guyana Chronicle, Minister Henry said: “I am certainly pleased with the allocations for the Education sector; it is in excess of $50B and therefore represents a sizable amount and a lot of work that is required to be done for the people of the country.”

The minister also explained, “We are looking at human and social development related to education,” and highlighted that in submitting her ministry’s proposed figures, there were a number of priority areas.

“The school feeding programme is a big focus for us because it helps to increase attendance at school, it is related to poverty alleviation and it also helps in terms of healthy eating,” she highlighted.

In addition to that, the minister noted that within the Education sector there has been specific focus given towards expanding school support services, particularly as it relates to welfare and counselling—to add to overall psychosocial health. The budget also looks to build the capacity of teachers in this regard.

And the development of infrastructure within the sector will continue, she noted, with the creation of new schools and the maintenance and repairs of existing schools.

ICT
During his presentation, Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan shared: “Education is not only about the past and present, but it is also the bridge that connects us to the future.”

As such, Dr. Henry said it is the development of students and boosting their academic capacity with Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

To this end, she reflected on the budget and shared: “We will be introducing robotics across primary schools and selected secondary schools, we will expand the SMART classrooms programme and we will be looking at artificial intelligence (AI) and animation and things that we have not done, or attempted in the past.”

According to Minister Jordan, the use of smart classrooms will be expanded throughout the country, with Santa Rosa and Paramakatoi Secondary Schools being among the priority schools for 2019.

Minister of Public Telecommunications, Cathy Hughes expressed her elation at the $4B budgeted for her ministry but was equally excited about the deepening ties between education and ICT.

“70 per cent of the jobs in 2025 are going to require that our young people have skills in ICT and the beauty about Guyana is that we have a whole cadre of young persons that are comfortable with ICT,” Hughes related.

She noted that through her ministry, some 1400 persons have been trained in ICT, through a myriad of programmes offered and said, “These are areas that young people can begin to transform and when you have these skills you can begin to make a living from the skills.”

Hughes shared too that Minister Jordan would have made special concessions at her behest, in this regard, such as the provision of robotics kits in schools so that robotics can become integrated into the school curriculum.

“The whole philosophy is that we can use ICT and technology to transform Guyana,” the telecommunications minister noted.

With this in mind, she also highlighted that the government—again, at her behest— would have made a special commitment this year to see how ICT can be used to help persons living with disabilities.

The budget explores the possibility of tax concessions for private vehicles equipped for transporting persons with disabilities and Minister Jordan noted that government will examine the feasibility of providing tax rebate on cell phones with accessibility features for persons with visual or hearing impairments.

“What we’ve found is that members of the disability community cannot afford to purchase these things,” Hughes said and affirmed: “I am excited because I think the budget in all had a lot for people—and for persons to benefit overall.”