-over 24,000 Guyanese registered as of Sept. 9

GIVEN the overwhelming response by Guyanese to the Coursera online programmes, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, has secured a one-month extension of the September 30 deadline to register for the free courses. The new deadline is October 31, 2020.

Earlier this month, the Government of Guyana, through the Ministry of Education, announced its collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning to provide free access to online courses offered by Ivy League and other reputable universities through Coursera.

The Ministry noted that the objective of the initiative is to provide opportunities for Guyanese to improve their skills and competencies to enhance their performance and employability. The initiative will serve to help unemployed Guyanese and those who may need to transition to new occupations.

Within five days of the September 4 launch, some 24, 498 Guyanese had registered on the platform and 161 persons have completed their courses or graduated. The initial deadline for registration was September 30, 2020.

The Minister of Education engaged the Commonwealth of Learning and explained that, because of the prolonged election process and our country’s failure to take up the offer previously, Guyanese were not on equal footing with the rest of the Commonwealth and would therefore be disadvantaged.

Coupled with the tremendous response and interest, the Minister of Education sought an extension of the September deadline.

So far several Caribbean countries have benefitted from this programme and will have their citizens graduate on September 22, 2020.

Persons who are interested in the programme can visit the Ministry of Education’s Facebook page for additional information.