Consultants from the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) have been developing a six-month plan to strengthen Information and Communication Technology (ICT) education in schools throughout Guyana by deepening the knowledge of teachers.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) has embarked on the second stage of a major partnership with the COL and Microsoft, Minister of Education Shaik Baksh announced yesterday. The COL is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.
The partnership, according to Baksh, focuses on strengthening the implementation of its plans to develop the ability of Guyanese teachers to use technology (computers and the internet) more effectively in the classroom. Last year COL, Microsoft and MoE developed a roadmap to implement UNESCO’s ICT Competence Framework for Teachers. The UNESCO plan is an internationally recognised framework that provides clear pathways for teachers to develop their ability to use computers effectively to support teaching and learning.
Expert and consultant from the Commonwealth Secretariat Anthony Ming and South African Education Technology consultant Neil Butcher have been in Guyana for the last week, Baksh explained. Ming and Butcher are being hosted by MoE to advance the ICT project. They are expected to implement the six-month “knowledge deepening” plan aimed at teachers.
ICT is a major aspect of the strategic plan of the Government of Guyana (GoG), Baksh said. It was first launched in 2008 and MoE expects to achieve all of the objectives under this plan by the year 2013.
Since the commencement of the programme, the minister reported, about 60 primary schools have been equipped with Information Technology (IT) laboratories. MoE hopes to equip another 40 primary schools with laboratories by the end of this year to 2012. The Success Maker Software continues to be a key component in the set-up of these IT laboratories to improve the literacy and numeracy levels in the school system.
All secondary schools, Baksh further said, will be equipped with IT laboratories by the end of this year. IT laboratories have been set-up in 70 of the 110 secondary schools countrywide. Plans are in progress to finish the laboratories in the remaining 40 schools.
However, the minister noted that there have been some difficulties in funding the project. Last January Canadian non-profit organisation Global Partnership for Literacy (GPL) had collaborated with MoE to launch SchoolNet Guyana; a pilot programme for the computerisation of secondary schools in Guyana.
Baksh said GPL has been slow in achieving its objectives and GoG was forced to step in and assist with funding for that arm of the ICT programme which targeted secondary schools. GoG has made US$1.4 million available for procuring computers for the project. The MoE has been in contact with GPL about its commitment to equip at least 50 secondary schools with IT laboratories, Baksh said. The Ministry of Finance is also expected to present the MoE with a quantity of computers next week.
The ICT programme, he stressed, is an important national development goal for the GoG. All Guyanese in the private and public sectors will be offered an opportunity to access IT. This is a key step in working towards the grand aim of bridging the “digital divide.”
Baksh also said that the GoG has been investing heavily in a string of initiatives to bridge the digital divide. Heavy investments have been made in a fibre optic cable which will be routed from Brazil. This will increase connectivity to correspond with the growing ICT infrastructure being implemented.
The One Laptop Per Family Programme, which will see the GoG distributing about 90,000 computers to poor families throughout the country over the next three years, is also an important component in bridging the digital divide, Baksh said.
Training teachers
With emphasis being placed on implementing the necessary ICT infrastructure and improving Guyana’s connectivity capacity, the next step is to ensure that educators are equipped with the deeper understanding they need to use technology effectively in the classroom.
For this, the MoE has implemented the UNESCO ICT Competence Framework for Teachers which is an international guideline constructed especially for improving their skills. The Teacher Improvement Project has been implemented at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE), National Centre for Educational Research Development (NCERD) and the University of Guyana.
“We want every teacher to come out [of whichever educational institution] with a deeper understanding of ICT,” Baksh stated.
Last year, he reported, NCERD trained more than 2,000 teachers in basic literacy and this year it is aiming to train between 1,500 and 2,000. The training has been expanded to regions Two, Six and Ten.
It was this need to train teachers, Baksh explained, that prompted the – Secretariat COL and MoE team-up and which led to Microsoft being approached to offer technical assistance in the form of an expert and provision of software to help with the education of teachers.
The ICT Professional Development Strategy for Teachers in Guyana, a document submitted to the MoE by Ming and Butcher, has been implemented in the education system. Within the next six months, Baksh said, the two experts will concentrate on deepening the knowledge of teachers.
The two experts have been working closely with NCERD IT Coordinator Marcia Thomas and and MoE’s Yoganand Andarsingh to develop the six-month plan to strengthen Guyana’s strategies to build the capacity of its teachers in this area. Between now and September, the team will be completing several essential activities which include undertaking development of a new set of training modules for teachers; completing a thorough review of two key components of the ICT in Education Initiative; completing a comprehensive audit of the current capacity of Guyana’s teachers to use ICT effectively; working with its partners globally to secure international accreditation for these training modules; and implementing a robust, three-tiered governance model, to monitor progress and provide direction to the project team.
The MoE, in a subsequent press statement, said it “is confident that these activities, combined with other ongoing projects in the field of ICT in Education, will make a significant contribution to our ongoing efforts to use education to create an ICT-literate society, knowledgeable workforce, and a better life for all of Guyana’s citizens.”
Meanwhile, during a brief address Ming said that the Commonwealth Secretariat sees education as key in bridging the digital divide which currently exists and thereby creating and ICT literate population.
The Guyana project, according to him, is a stepping stone for similar activities which will be done throughout the Caribbean.
Ming also said that on March 28 the team will be in Trinidad and Tobago to cement a deal with Microsoft. The technology giant will make software available at a heavily reduced cost, thereby making it less expensive to implement technology in the education sector.
