STUDENTS and educators in Aishalton, Deep South Rupununi, Region Nine, now have access to internet connection after officers from the National Data Management Authority (NDMA) facilitated the deployment of cost-free, high-speed internet service to the village.

The equipment was installed at the Aishalton Village Office on Thursday morning. Village Toshao, Michael Thomas expressed profound gratitude for the service, noting that it was the first time the village was receiving Wi-Fi service.

While the village had previously received data service from Digicel as part of a Ministry of Education plan, difficulties arose when more than 15 persons attempted to connect to the network.
“We were paying for a service that didn’t meet the needs of the village,” Thomas told the Department of Public Information (DPI) in an invited comment.

He explained that recently, teachers and educators who are part of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) and Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) were unable to connect to the internet.

Some of those persons were forced to travel to Lethem for a reliable and stable internet connection to attend their classes, submit assignments and write their examinations.

Others who could not travel were forced to drop out.

“So, with this new system, the village council will monitor the usage of the internet, and priority will be given to persons who require the internet for education purposes— submitting assignments and so forth. So, this will be a big move for Aishalton in terms of attaining internet access,” Thomas said.

The village’s proposed Information and Communications Technology (ICT) hub will be located at the village office.

Thomas said the village had considered attaining internet connection previously, but it proved to be costly.

“So now that NDMA has provided this service, it’s going to benefit us greatly. I would like to give a big thank you to them, and the Government of Guyana for providing this service,” he expressed. (DPI)