OIL services provider, Schlumberger, on Tuesday, donated 30 laptop computers to teachers at the Houston Secondary as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Present at a simple ceremony held at the school were Head teacher, Kevin Williamson; Managing Director of Schlumberger GTC, Ernesto Cuadros; Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson; Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton and Natural Resources Minister, Vickram Bharrat.

Speaking at the event, Cuadros noted the company’s commitment to its CSR programme, particularly in the communities in which it operates.

“Our goal is to partner with customers in order to create a stable operating environment in which society, communities and energy industry can prosper,” Cuadros commented.

He added: “Increasing supplier capacity and supporting sustainability projects are aligned to key drivers such as education, safety, health and environment. Our donation today is the first one for 2022, and is an investment in the workforce of tomorrow and the next generation of professionals in the country.”

Cuadros noted that for this year, about 75 per cent of the company’s community investment will be spent on programmes that address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Four, which speaks to inclusive and equitable quality education that promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all.

“You will soon hear about our education initiative and outreach programmes that reflect our core values,” Cuadros said.

Schlumberger, a renowned Fortune 500 company, is the world’s leading provider of technology and digital solutions for the oil and gas industry. In 2017, the company made a decision to invest significantly and establish a long-term footprint in Guyana. In 2021, the US company had designated Guyana as the location for its regional base, with the construction of a modern facility
Dr. Hutson thanked the company for the kind gesture, noting that it will go a far way in contributing to the development of the school and its student.

The school has 548 students and 38 teachers. Headteacher of the school, Williamson, shared how he decided to reach out to the companies in the community to render some assistance to the teachers, who would have been having a difficult time teaching ‘virtual’ due to lack of devices.

A lot of virtual teaching has been going on over the past few years due to school closures that were brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“During the pandemic teachers were struggling to teach on their phones and I recognised that there were a number of challenges that we would have faced using cell phone to teach; so, as a result, we would have reached out to the oil and gas companies [in the community],” Williamson explained.

With a programme that focuses on giving back in the area of development, Schlumberger was happy to respond to the request and furnished the teachers with the devices.

“I would have proposed to them how we plan on integrating it into our system and how we plan to develop and so they bought them for us and we have this event here today,” Williamson noted.