One computer per family being worked on – Baksh

One laptop computer is to be provided to every family in Guyana and the government is working out the modalities and costing for this initiative, according to Education Minister Shaik Baksh.

The programme which is the brainchild of President Bharrat Jagdeo is  probably the first of its kind in the Caribbean, the Ministry of Education said yesterday in a release.

Minister  Baksh made the statement at a senior education administrators meeting at NCERD which was aimed at reviewing the 2008-2013 Education Strategic Plan for the first quarter of the year. The plan had been previously spoken about.

The meeting was aimed at assessing the progress made, identifying the challenges and outlining the way forward to achieve the goals and objectives set out in the strategic plan.

One important aspect of the plan envisions equipping all secondary schools and 50% of primary schools with IT laboratories by 2013.  However, the release noted Baksh’s desire to have this goal fulfilled in another year’s time.

The release stated that to date about 60 secondary schools already have computers and  60 more are still to receive

And at the primary level, it is expected that nearly 60 schools will be equipped with computers and more teachers will be trained in the IT curriculum.

Meanwhile, the minister noted that the success of this programme hinges on the contributions of the government, the Guyanese   diaspora and the old students associations of various schools.

Baksh highlighted also the need for all stakeholders to be proactively involved in their departments and in so doing make their contribution to the maintenance and expansion of progress in the education sector.