Minister of Education Priya Manickchand and senior officials of the Guyana Learning Channel (GLC) on Wednesday defended their decision to rent satellite time from TVG Channel 28 saying that it was based solely on value for dollar.
Manickchand went on to state that the channel’s owner Bobby Ramroop should be commended for his generous efforts and an apology given by naysayers.
“For the Learning Channel to have set up a commensurate service for unlinking video signals o a satellite, it would have requited an equipment capital outlay of US$150,000 plus monthly recurring costs… in bandwidth and associate services plus infrastructure, construction costs, the cost of expatriate technical resources and staff training separate staffing, maintenance and utility costs” Head of the Guyana Learning Channel Dr Seeta Shah Roath explained.
She was speaking at a press conference held by the Ministry of Education at the National Centre for Education and Research Development, to clear the air on the issue.
Shah Roath gave a lengthy explanation of the genesis of the Learning Channel saying that when the idea was first birthed many thought she was “a mad woman.” However she had a vision to bring to Guyana’s children a television channel that would cater to fostering their educational and well rounded development. With perseverance she said that the idea paid off and is what it is today.
She rubbished claims that GLC had any personal arrangement with TVG’s owner stressing that politics should not be mixed with the educational development of the nation’s children. “In the interest of educating our children, giving students, teachers, and parents access to the kind of educational resources they need to compete in today’s world, let’s leave the Guyana Learning Channel to education and educators and politics to the politicians,” Shah-Roath pleaded.
When the Ministry of Education’s budgetary allocation was being debated in parliament Education Minister Priya Manichand informed that that the learning channel is rented from TVG channel 28 for $3.6 million monthly. She responded in writing to APNU Member of Parliament Jaipaul Sharma who wanted to know the cost the ministry pays the channel. The contract was entered into in 2010 is a five-year contract. “The Guyana Learning Channel has the use of a teleport that was created at the time of its set-up since there was no other teleport capable of up-linking video signals in existence in Guyana before or since,” Manickchand said.
“Given what I have been advised …it would not be cost efficient it would cost us far more to purchase satellite, secondly to maintain it and thirdly our monthly recurring cost …even if government was to say let us give this channel all the money in the world we don’t have the technical expertise to be maintaining this channel,” she said.
The GLC head explained that TVG is paid to uplink and downlink the Guyana Learning Channel’s programming to 16 locations countrywide. The ministry distributed maps to illustrate the areas countrywide stressing that hinterland and river rain areas also benefit. These include communities such as Aishalton, Port Kaituma, Annai, Anna Regina, Bartica, Madhia, Kwakwani, Orealla, Karasabai, Lethem and Mabaruma.
Manickchand she said that she was appalled at the stories she heard surrounding the rental and said that the media also play a role in the untruths being sold to the public.
She said that while the owner of TVG is a close friend of former president Bharat Jagdeo the rental from him had nothing to do with this fact. “On this issue, I am saying you cannot accuse us or indeed TVG or Bobby Ramroop of any wrongdoing… Bobby Ramroop saved the day and we should be thanking him, as a country, because we are able to provide this service to all our children in Mabaruma, in a valley in Lethem,” she said.
However she said that if the service is available at a cheaper cost, using the provided means of acquiring the services, this will be done. “If someone were to have this service and we were aware of that we would be happy in accordance with the Procurement Act… attempt to procure that service by way of public procurement,” she said.
