–President Ali says

PRESIDENT, Dr. Irfaan Ali, has said that the government is working on a major Information and Communication (ICT) master plan which will significantly boost the efficiency and productivity of the education and security sectors in Guyana.

The Head of State made this announcement on Wednesday, during the first meeting of Guyana’s Information and Communication (ICT) Master Plan 2030 “Discovery kick-off,” at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

“We are bringing the entire ICT platform on one common agenda where all the stakeholders will be part of a singular platform to enhance efficiency, to improve productivity,” President Ali said.

The Head of State added that one of the main aspects of the ICT strategy and master plan will be its integration into the school system. He noted that this will allow students in primary schools to start basic training in coding, which would be built upon throughout their secondary school life.

It is the government’s aim that children in the local education system be exposed to training in software development before leaving high school.

“So, ICT will be integrated into the lifecycle of the new generation of children in our country,” Dr. Ali said.

The President added that persons who are not part of that generation will have to “come up to speed” with the infrastructure that will be in place to change the way things are operated.

“The new generation that will come, will be coming up in this ICT framework in which their knowledge and their skillset are far different from what we were accustomed to because they will be trained to operate and work in new environments, in a new Guyana, where ICT will be a catalyst in transforming the country,” Dr. Ali related.

Already, in keeping with its vision to modernise the education sector, the Ministry of Education has commissioned several new smart classrooms.

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. 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.

The equipment does not include desktop computers, one of the main differences between the smart classrooms and regular Information Technology (IT) laboratories that many schools already have.

The schools that the ministry has equipped with smart classrooms include Leonora Secondary School in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); Brickdam Secondary School and the East Ruimveldt Secondary School, President’s College, and Queen’s College in Region Four (Demerara Mahaica); Moraikobai, Region Five (Mahaica-Bebrice); New Amsterdam Secondary School and the Skeldon Line Path Secondary in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and the Christianburg Wismar Secondary School in Wismar, Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).

Queen’s College on February 10, 2021, became the second smart classroom to be launched in a public school. The first was commissioned at the North Ruimveldt Secondary in 2014.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, had said that the government’s intention is to eventually establish smart classrooms in every high school across the country. This, she believes, will allow schools to access teachers from other schools if they don’t have a teacher for a specific subject.

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.

She said that in cases where some schools do not have a specialist teacher in a particular subject area, a teacher from the Leonora Secondary School could assist those students by conducting lessons virtually without having to travel to the other school.

The Education Ministry highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed significant gaps in online and virtual learning and has underscored the importance of the integration of technology into the education sector.

SECURITY AND TECHNOLOGY
Education is not the only area that would benefit from technological advancements, as President Ali had said that the new master plan also caters for the enhancement of security
The master plan and improved infrastructure will help in project implementation, monitoring and evaluation, addressing cybercrime, healthcare management, education delivery, and others. The President said it will also help to identify weaknesses in the system.

“It is also a tool that will help us to hold people more accountable to the performing of the functions and the way in which they work,” President Ali said.

Recently, the Head of State disclosed plans for “smart policing” systems, which would allow the strategic implementation of technology in the day-to-day operations of the GPF, in a bid to improve the accessibility and efficiency of the force.

He noted that with Guyana on a fast-growth trajectory, systems must be put in place to ensure the safety of Guyanese, visitors, and persons interested in investing in Guyana.

“Aggregate investments, both private and public, are increasing; citizens are investing in new homes, cars, and other personal belongings; businesses are expanding; those making these investments are doing so with the understanding that the country will boost security to protect them and their investments,” President Ali said.

One of the major undertakings of the smart policing system is the implementation of a digital platform for ticketing, directly related to breach of road laws.

The President said that the government has already started discussions with the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) and intends to have this feature incorporated on all of Guyana’s major highways.

This system will incorporate fixed-speed radars on main roads, so as to identify those who use the roads recklessly and to photograph these infractions.

ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL
Dr. Ali said that although this will be a costly investment, it is essential to stem the road carnage.

“On all our new highways we are going to incorporate this feature where we can move towards digital ticketing and recognition in terms of speeding, in terms of seatbelt violations, and so on; and that system must be automatically linked to the suspension of licence and so on,” President Ali said.

In keeping with the digitalisation of the force, the Head of State also said that the government plans to pilot digital reporting booths, a system that will allow citizens to document and lodge police reports at police stations. He noted that these systems will be set up at strategic spots to allow people ease of access.

President Ali believes that this could significantly boost the force’s information-gathering system since any potential anxiety or fear of directly making a report face to face with a rank of the GPF will be eliminated.