MINISTER of Education, Sonia Parag, has noted that Guyana’s flagship Digital School is now serving more than 27,000 students across the Caribbean as the platform is continuing to expand its reach and offerings.
Parag made this known while delivering the keynote address at the closing ceremony of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) Ministerial Forum, during which she said the initiative, fully funded by the Government of Guyana, is being made available free of cost to participating CARICOM countries.
“The Digital School was not only established for Guyanese, it was also established for the wider CARICOM region,” Parag said.
To this end, she noted that several territories, including Barbados, Grenada, Belize and St Kitts and Nevis, are already benefitting from the platform.
She said that the Digital School delivers live interactive classes aligned with the CXC framework, supported by digital tools that allow for personalised learning and continuous engagement, which positions it as a critical tool in modernising education delivery across the region.
According to the minister, the platform currently provides content for Grades 10 and 11, with expansion in the works.
“In three weeks, we will be able to have the content for Grades Seven to Nine, and in the months to come, we will have the entire primary [level] on the Guyana Digital School,” she said.
Parag emphasised that the initiative was born out of the challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, when countries were forced to rapidly transition to online learning.
Against this backdrop, she stated that rather than treating digital learning as a temporary solution, Guyana moved to make it a permanent feature of its education system.
“Instead of always having to find a short-term fix or a temporary fix, why not make this permanent? Because the entire world is moving… the entire world is digitising,” she stated.
Additionally, she indicated that the platform also serves as a safeguard against disruptions to education, particularly in the face of natural disasters and other emergencies common to the Caribbean.
“For all of our territories in the Caribbean that suffer in one way or the other from some disaster… we have to have something in place that gives that reassurance, that allows the process to continue,” she said.
With this, she underscored that the digital school is designed not only to complement classroom teaching, but also to expand access to quality educational resources, particularly for students in remote and underserved communities.
“If you really want your students to improve and you want them to have every resource possible to make them successful, then I’ll encourage you to sign on to the Guyana Digital School,” she urged regional counterparts.
With more than 27,000 students already enrolled, the minister said the initiative reflects Guyana’s commitment to supporting regional education development through practical, accessible solutions, while strengthening collaboration among Caribbean nations.
