Min. Hughes says by 2025, every Guyanese will be tech-savvy
By Naomi Paris
THE Esplanade Park, in New Amsterdam, on Monday night came alive as President David Granger and the A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change took their campaign to Berbice, gathering a large crowd of supporters from the East Berbice Corentyne Region.
Speaking at the rally, Catherine Hughes, Minister of Public Telecommunications, underscored some of the coalition’s achievements in the region and across Guyana with the introduction of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
“When we talk about education, we are talking about ensuring that every child, regardless of whether you have money or you don’t have money, regardless of which region you come from, if you come from hinterland, where that poor child has to walk school for two hours, I have met them, we go to those same places and put free Internet and gave teachers laptops…we have created smart classrooms, over 175 ICT hubs with free Internet access. Of the 175 hubs, 54 are right here in Regions Five and Six,” she stated.
Minister Hughes added that children across the country can utilise the said hubs to access the Internet, and access not some, but all the textbooks required for school digitally. “You can take your child or as an adult, you could go and use free Internet. Your children go to a hub and there are all the textbooks from the Ministry of Education on those computers, so if you got five and six children you don’t have to buy some of the books…it allows your child to do their research, to do their homework, their school-based assessments. You don’t have to go to any Internet place and pay for an half an hour, you are benefitting,” she stated.
The Glasgow and Smythfield community centres are prime examples of the development which has taken place in Region Six, where resources were invested to ensure that students in the areas where given the opportunity to access the materials required for school and self-development.
MODERNISING EDUCATION
Minister Hughes noted that education has been modernised by the coalition government with the introduction of information technology in schools across Guyana, stimulating the minds of the youths and educating them of the evolving world of technology.
“When we say we bringing and changing education in a different way…we are doing STEM training, robotics training, ICT training, literacy training …when you have those opportunities and education, the sky is the limit and that’s why I am saying to each and every one of you, you make the best of these opportunities because your children must be the next petroleum engineer, the next undersea welders and all the skills that this oil and gas industry and our agriculture industry would require ,” she stated.
The minister noted that the establishment of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications is part of President Granger’s initiative to create a digital state so that Guyanese are prepared for the evolving world of technology.
She further stated that Guyana was far behind but has since risen and by 2025 under the coalition government, every pupil, every student, every Guyanese will be technology-trained. “By 2025, 75 per cent of jobs in the world are going to require some kind of skills in information, communication technology, so we are going to train everybody and move everybody forward,” Minister Hughes pointed out.
ICT IN THE AGRICULTURE AND HEALTH SECTORS
The minister noted that health centres and hospitals in remote areas across the country have been introduced to ICT, with smart televisions which allow doctors and nurses to correspond with each other to ensure that citizens are getting the best care they can. Additionally, Minister Hughes noted that the coalition has set its eyes on a new technology plan to mobilise and market the products of young agro-processors and agri-entrepreneurs with a mobile application, which will create a market space for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to market their local products like plantain and cassava chips, to anywhere in the Caribbean Region.
RESTORING DIGNITY
Meanwhile, boasting that the coalition government has restored dignity to Guyana, Minister Hughes said Guyanese have so much to be thankful for, as the APNU+AFC Government has undoubtedly restored pride to this country. “When last you heard of somebody sitting on a bench in Barbados or Trinidad? They say the economy collapsing, but the IMF (International Monetary Fund) said we will grow at 87 per cent. NASDAQ said that the fastest growing economy in the world is Guyana. This year we have gone up spaces in the TPI (Transparency Index). We have things to be thankful for. This is your time Guyana, and we have to make sure that we do not stop the progress!” she told the crowd.
Minister Hughes said every Guyanese must make their mark in the coming elections; a defining moment for the country. “I am asking you to put your confidence in this palm and key,” she urged.
The progress under the leadership of His Excellency President David Granger is remarkable, she related, noting that never before in Guyana’s recent history has there been a leader that cares for all. As a Guyanese woman, Minister Hughes said she has had the pleasure of working with President Granger; a man rich in integrity, and has great respect for women. “We support good men. This is a boss man; boss all the way, a man with respect for women, a family man, and an honest man. A man that has more than 40 per cent of his cabinet women. I want to remind you, we have a serious choice to make come March 2.”
Minister Hughes took the opportunity to condemn firmly, utterances made by former Minister of Home Affairs, Clement Rohee, last Saturday, where he was heard disrespecting women. “I don’t care where we come from; which race or region. We are not voting for men that disrespect us. Ladies of Regions Five and Six you know what you have to do,” the minister stated.
