–effective usage of smart facilities will be part of managed programme says education minister

IMPROVED access to education is expected at the Brickdam Secondary School and the East Ruimveldt Secondary School, where the Ministry of Education commissioned smart classrooms on Thursday. According to a press statement from the Ministry of Education, the commissioning of smart classrooms in those schools forms part of the Ministry of Education’s drive to modernise the education sector. The smart classrooms are equipped with items such as an interactive board, a television that allows teachers and students to connect remotely, and motion and voice-activated cameras complete with a face recognition feature.
Systems Development Coordinator within the Ministry of Education, Godfrey Munroe, explained that the interactive board will allow students to be able to interact virtually with the class that is being facilitated at the time and view all the content that is being shared.

He said too that the smart classrooms will provide for the infusion of Information Communication Technology (ICT) into all subject areas. The facilities will have a multiplier effect as they will allow for expert teachers to reach and engage with students from other schools and vice versa.
The smart classrooms will directly benefit the 368 students currently enrolled at the Brickdam Secondary School and 506 students at the East Ruimveldt Secondary School. Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, said that she was very pleased to be commissioning the classrooms especially in this COVID-19 period when information and teaching can flow from one to many using the equipment installed.
“This is opening doors for us to occasion the equality and equity that we recognise is needed across the sector about which various parties have spoken,” Minister Manickchand said.

The education minister promised that the effective usage of the classrooms will not be left up to the schools alone, but will also be part of a managed programme.
This programme is aimed at ensuring that the classrooms are not only being used effectively to benefit the students at the respective schools, but also those students at other schools which do not have such classrooms.
“Imagine what we can do here. We could get experienced teachers delivering content to thousands of students at the same time. This will help us to expand the reach of our human resources for the benefit of all our students regardless of where they are located,” Minister Manickchand reasoned.
Headmistress of the East Ruimveldt Secondary School, Cathryn Fraser, said that the smart classroom is a very a good move and shows the government’s commitment to education.

Headteacher of the Brickdam Secondary School, Shandrina Welcome-Lee, echoed similar sentiments.
In February of this year, a smart classroom was commissioned at Queen’s College, becoming the second such facility in the public education system.
The commissioning of the facility at Queen’s College had instigated a response from former Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes, who claimed that smart classrooms were already installed in several secondary schools across Guyana including the Brickdam Secondary and East Ruimveldt Secondary, which received smart classrooms only Thursday. Minister Manickchand gave the assurance that the Government of Guyana and the Ministry of Education will continue to establish more smart classrooms in the coming weeks.