Dear Editor,
Two years ago, President Jagdeo conceptualized what will undoubtedly become one of the most transformational social and economic development programmes ever undertaken in Guyana, the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF).
This concept is rooted in the existing comprehensive, far reaching Information and Communication Technology (ICT) agenda of the Government of Guyana. That agenda, as it unfolds, has seen initiatives mainly through investment in promoting ICT uses and applications in the financial services sector, the educational sector and the telecommunication sector, all supported and anchored by profound planned legislative and regulatory reforms.
The OLPF is a critical component of the new-frontier developmental paths that will drive the new and more prosperous Guyana. Since the launch of OLPF in January 2011, the wheels of innovation and national fervour that will eventually place modern, mobile computers into the hands of some ninety thousand families have been turning incessantly. Guyanese from every nook and cranny of our villages and towns are engaged in a process designed to take them one step closer to realizing their dream of empowerment. Children, their parents and, in many instances grandparents, will possess as their own, a modern laptop computer, equipped with the best academic and social learning tools that will transform the knowledge base and opportunities for the growth of each family.
The logical developmental framework of the OLPF creates a digital connection between the individual, the family, the community and the nation and the global village. With a computer in the home, an enabling environment is created for parents and family members to become more involved in their children’s school work. It will enhance research and learning approaches in academia and general social studies, and it is expected that the achievement gaps between children of poor or working class parents and those of parentage from higher income brackets will be narrowed.
Families joining the programme will inevitably come face to face with the infinite range of opportunities and possibilities for self-development, business and growth that reside in the global marketplace made possible through the worldwide web. In essence, the OLPF initiative is strategically designed to lend impetus to the all-encompassing national developmental approaches that successive PPP/C governments have embraced.
When it would have taken root in the homes and minds of our people, equity in our developmental processes would have crossed a significant threshold. This is exactly what our detractors are afraid of. A section of small-minded people in and out of the media, exist, plot and plan daily to thwart the genuine efforts of this government to transform the social landscape of our country, into one that opens the windows of opportunity to everyone regardlesss of class or creed, location or political and religious persuasion. They have little to offer and even less to add. Their diatribe and criticisms are not matched by ideas and proposals of worth. They cannot conceive of our own ability to turn Guyana around. They derive orgasmic pleasure in sowing confusion, exploiting insecurities, creating difficulties and problems to forestall our nation’s forward march. They cannot bear to see us emerge as a collective, truly embodying our sacred motto of One People, One Nation with One Destiny.
They will not succeed and we will not temper our resolve to expose them, their acolytes and machinations. There must be no doubt in the minds of any, that under this PPP/C administration, Guyana is on an irreversible path to progress and development with everyone on board – even our detractors. No amount of lies and sabotage craftsmanship under the guise of journalism by the Kaieteur News and Stabroek News and their political agents and backers, will frustrate our noble resolve. We will continue to forge ahead with our efforts to empower every Guyanese. We are working undauntedly to give laptop computers to ninety thousand Guyanese families through an enabling programmatic approach that will ensure effective learning outcomes, opportunity creation and ultimate empowerment for all.
We urge you to be familiar about OLPF by getting hold of the information being provided by the OLPF teams. The project unit is working feverishly as we speak, to get those facts to you through multiple sources. An army of professionals and volunteers is coming together in an unprecedented movement, to make the process of getting the laptops to those who qualify as easy and as hassle free as possible, of getting the facilities for training operational and ensuring the planned outcomes. Those processes are transparent, above board and verifiable. The linkages with stakeholders and their inputs will be the main source of legitimacy.
The OLPF is indeed transformative.
Yours faithfully,
Roger Luncheon
Head Presidential Secretariat
