–as Sewa International donates thousands of PPE to Education Ministry

AS the battle against COVID-19 rages on, schools across Guyana will be better equipped to combat this disease as a result of a donation of personal protective equipment (PPE) by Sewa International Guyana, to the Ministry of Education.

The Education Ministry, in a press release issued on Tuesday, said that it received some 80,719 face shields, 24,190 KN95 masks, 126,500 disposable masks, 2,600 surgical gowns and over 6,240 face goggles.

Senior representative of Sewa International, Yashpaul Seownarine, handed over the items to the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Alfred King, at the Book Distribution Unit, Evans and Lyng Streets, Charlestown.
King said the items will supplement the ministry’s efforts to ensure students, teachers and other staff are safe, as schools reopen.

He was quoted as saying: “We want to make sure that all schools are given enough protected gears so that the learners, teachers and cleaners could be protected while they deliver education.”
The Education Ministry related that distribution of the items will start in hinterland communities before moving to the coast and Georgetown.

“At most of our schools in and around Georgetown and in other regions, we’ve already given some amount of protective gears. So, this will complement what is needed in the school system, at least for maybe the long-term, replacing what is already here in the system, but we would have already provided a whole lot and this will help in ensuring we can place replacements,” King said.

A representative of Sewa said the donation is important since it supports on-going efforts to ensure students receive an education while being protected against COVID-19. (Ministry of Education)