Minister of Finance Dr Ashni Singh said government has made great strides in bridging the “domestic digital divide” by creating access to computers and the internet for citizens countrywide, at a recent Information Technology (IT) graduation ceremony held at the Watooka Club in Region 10.
Andrea Dover topped the class with an 82.4% pass from a 95% pass rate, from a group of 23 students who completed courses in Office Ethics, Introduction to Windows, Microsoft word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel, Access, Outlook, Computer Repairs and Networking, a press release from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said.
Address the graduates, Singh said, “Once access and the opportunity are provided then there are no barriers to skills being embraced and utilised for personal upliftment and national purpose. Government has recognised the opportunities presented by ICTs and that the most critical barrier that has to be overcome is the barrier of access.” He also said that government recognises that “those who have access will acquire the skills but we also believe strongly, as a government, that we cannot entertain a situation where only those who can afford a computer or attend schools with computer labs have such but that every Guyanese person… must have this access.”
Singh noted that President Bharrat Jagdeo had referred to this by conceptualising it as “the domestic digital divide” that is, persons who have access to a computer and can acquire the skills that make them literate in IT compared with those who don’t and are denied.
He said too Jagdeo had declared that this divide must be bridged by “creating and equipping computer centres, constructing and equipping ICT labs at schools, training teachers to deliver IT education, and bringing computer hardware into homes via the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme.”
According to GINA, ministries, particularly the finance ministry have been trying to mobilise resources while ensuring that those resources are utilised in a manner that really meets the needs of every citizen. “when we speak of the national budget’s theme – together (working together/partnership) building tomorrow’s Guyana today (concept of the future, vision for Guyana in the future), that theme could not be more relevant than on an occasion when we speak of Guyanese people acquiring IT skills – the theme of partnership, the theme of tomorrow and the theme of doing that work today,” Singh said.
The minister also said that government believes in a model that is sustainable and that has partnership at its centre.
In the light of this he urged Parent Teachers Associations and communities to ensure facilities such as the one recently erected at the Watooka Primary School are cared for so that it is able to fulfil its function. Recipients were also encouraged to share their knowledge with persons who have never had access. Singh also said communities should focus on ensuring that males have access to the service so that they too can participate in the new emerging economy.
The programme was hosted from an initiative facilitated by the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) which is a Government of Guyana programme that provides funding to aid development locally and nationally. BNTF Project Manager Michael Singh said he is satisfied with the programme hosted in Region 10. The agency operates under two broad components: infrastructure and skills training. The first sessions were hosted in Hururu and expanded to communities including Cotton Field, Region Two; Enmore, Region Four; Bath, Region Five; Port Mourant, Region Six; Lethem, Region Nine and Mabaruma, Region Seven.
