Beginning today, some 20 children from Baramita Primary School in Region One (Barima- Waini) will begin benefiting from a learning pod created through a partnership with Food for the Poor (Guy) Inc and STEMGuyana that aims to foster development in especially Robotics and Technology, Maths, English, Science and Reading.
STEMGuyana and Food For The Poor (FFTP), Guyana last week entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to support the creation and maintenance of the Baramita learning pod, which will be located at the primary school in Matarkai, Sub District, Region 1.
Commencing today, the programme will run for one school year, Food for the Poor Guyana said in a statement. “The children will attend classes five days per week during the afternoon hours. The programme aims to bridge the widening gaps in learning outcomes caused by the forced closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic,” it added.
The learning pod, FFTP explained, is an academic support programme designed by STEMGuyana for children aged 7 to 15 in vulnerable communities. “The objective of the programme is to create an engaging, effective and scalable cost-effective, after-school educational delivery model aimed at improving the performance outcomes of vulnerable children. The execution of the learning pod is managed by a mobile and web app which organises more than 1,300 tech integrated lessons plans that have been created by STEMGuyana. Mathematics, Reading, English and Science are taught as part of the programme and Robotics and Coding are incorporated into the programme to encourage an interest in technology and promote critical thinking,” the non-profit organisation explained.
Food for the Poor (Canada) will provide the funding for the programme and Food for the Poor (Guyana) Inc, will work with STEMGuyana to implement the programme. Funding covers the procurement of all the resources (laptops, tablets and a projector) needed and payment of stipend for the teachers. STEMGuyana will coordinate all of the activities associated with the onsite execution of the program. FFTP (Guy) Inc CEO Kent Vincent stated, “FFTP (Guy) Inc remains committed to assisting those in greatest need throughout the country”.
Regular monitoring and evaluation of the programme will be done and reports submitted to FFTP (Guyana) every two months. The programme will run for 10 months of each year, with a start date of May 1, 2023. The Baramita programme will run for 3 days each week and will include a ‘Tech day’ allocated to technology education.
STEMGuyana Director Karen Abrams stated that the organisation’s 42 learning pods, spread across all 10 regions of Guyana, provide an opportunity for children with significant gaps in education to receive after-school enrichment in Maths, English, Science, and Technology. This helps them to not only close the gaps in their education, but also to strengthen their collaboration, communication, and problem-solving skills. These skills will help them develop into future leaders who can make a significant contribution to their region, country, and even the world.
“The Learning Pod at Baramita Primary School will help promote STEM education in Guyana, a country that is seeking to develop its technology sector. This collaboration between STEMGuyana and Food For The Poor, Canada is a significant step towards achieving this goal,” she added.
STEMGuyana is a non-profit organisation focused on promoting Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics education in Guyana.
As part of the agreement, STEMGuyana will train teachers and volunteers, provide lesson plans, a timetable, and robot kits, but will not provide snacks. The Baramita learning pod will become the 42nd learning centre in Guyana.
