– as senior officials benefit from demonstration

THE Ministry of Education (MoE) has begun engaging possible partners to execute its initiative of introducing robotics in primary schools across Guyana, set for rollout later this year.

According to a release from the ministry, one US company and potential supplier, A+ Technology and Security, met with senior officials of the Ministry of Education on March 6.

The President of the company, David Antar, facilitated a demonstration on the use of robotics in the smart classroom of the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD). The MoE’s release stated that this demonstration was witnessed by Minister of Education, Dr Nicolette Henry; Chief Education Officer (CEO), Marcel Hutson; Permanent Secretary, Adele Clarke and other senior officials.

During this demonstration, the officials were introduced to drone blocks and different aspects of robotics.

“Antar commended the MoE for the direction in which Guyana’s education system is going and opined that with the introduction of robotics, the education sector can only get better while modernising and producing critical thinkers,” the release noted.

Furthermore, it was related that while proffering his professional opinion on the introduction of robotics in schools, Antar highlighted that he has seen just how this technology has transformed the lives of children living in difficult neighbourhoods in the United States of America.

He reportedly said that the introduction of robotics in the primary schools will serve as a stimulant for children at a young age, since this technology gets them excited and involved, and the introduction of robotics will give children hands-on experience in putting the robots together and programming them to execute different functions. This, he said, functions to capture their attention in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects.

The man also shared that the introduction of this technology to the education system will widen the human resources pool of the country, and asserted that it will have a positive developmental impact for Guyana in the context of the country’s emerging oil and gas sector.

“Notwithstanding the foregoing, Antar said the most important aspect of this exercise is to ensure that there are adequate training and professional development for teachers to be able to properly teach this new area,” the release noted further.

It also highlighted: “The IT specialist was adamant that although this is a new frontier for Guyana, grasping a good understanding of the technology will not be difficult and Guyana can be a model for other countries in the Region.”
He explained that the MoE will have to train teachers from across the country who will then serve as “Turn Key” trainers of other teachers to teach robotics.

“When robotics is introduced in primary schools later this year, it will make Guyana the only country in the Caribbean to do so,” the MoE said.