Minister of Education Shaik Baksh has announced that Guyana recorded a 97% pass rate in Information Tech- nology (IT) in the Caribbean Secondary Education Council (CSEC) examinations and it may soon be a compulsory subject for students.
Baksh, at a workshop for Information Communication Technology (ICT) teachers at the National Centre For Educational Resource Development (NCERD) on Monday, said this year’s outstanding results are an indication that teachers have been taking steps to improve their students’ learning outcomes. According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release, 2,000 pupils wrote IT at this year’s CSEC examinations. While, this is a favourable number, the minister said he hoped all students would write IT at that level but acknowledged that the subject would have to be made compulsory.
“We cannot leave this to chance it’s so critical for the development of Guyana,” he said, noting that ICT is being introduced at the primary level with the integration of Success Maker in 60 schools. In addition, plans are moving apace to ensure that all 110 secondary schools are computerised. To date, 70 schools have been equipped with computer laboratories and by mid next year the remainder will be completed.
Baksh noted that government has a strong vision for ICT in Guyana and huge investments are being made to secure additional systems, though he acknowledged that they need to be accelerated. The minister also said that while provisions are being made for the secondary schools, the education strategy outlines that by 2013, 50% of primary schools must also be computerized in order to ensure a smooth transition to instruction at that level. Baksh also told the workshop that the use of desk-top computers must be supplemented with laptops at both school levels and they must also be used to advance literacy and numeracy skills.
The minister said that this year 300 teachers from the Cyril Potter College of Education and IT teachers in secondary schools will be getting laptops. He said the ministry is also moving to introduce ICT education in technical institutes and already 50 computers have been installed at the Leonora Technical Institute. The Georgetown Technical Institute also has a functioning computer laboratory.
Baksh noted too that the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) project and the schools’ ICT initiative must be coordinated in order to achieve the full benefits. The ministry has also developed a document titled the ‘ICT development strategy for Teachers in Guyana’ to boost teachers’ skills. It was prepared with support from the Commonwealth of Learning, the Commonwealth Secreta-riat and Microsoft.
