The Ministry of Education (MoE) yesterday launched its Online Learning Platform for education delivery, which will initially target Grade Seven teachers and students.
The platform would see the utilization of Microsoft tools by educators to enhance learning and delivery of education during and after the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) Quenita Walrond-Lewis revealed during the virtual launch that the initiative, which is a collaboration between the MoE, the Global Partnership for Education and UNICEF, is a component of the COVID-19 Accelerated Funding Project (AFP), the sole purpose of which is to support the continuity of learning for children across Guyana.
“The projects seeks to allow provision of an integrated online platform for teachers, principally for delivery of curriculum but with many other applications. The initial phase will target 1,000 Grade Seven teachers and their students in the four core subject areas,” she revealed.
According to Walrond-Lewis, the initial rollout will see the training of 60 master teachers on the platform after which they will train and support other teachers to do same. Teachers will receive laptops with the Microsoft Office 365 software solution, which provides access to all Microsoft products. She said that students will now be able to do group work, assessments and engage in live classes on the platform.
Further, she said the platforms will allow the MoE to set security policies for students so that teachers can determine what kind of interactions are allowed. In addition, she said teachers will be able to facilitate one-on-one interactions and set-up staff teams for school as well as professional learning communities, which will allow teachers to collaborate across departments and subject areas,
To ensure that this platform works across the country, some teachers will be provided with internet service. “The big takeaway here is this is the beginning of a programme that will allow us to meet the strategic imperatives of the education strategy plan 2021-25, which focuses on a commitment to a perpetual upgrading of our teachers and officers, equity distribution of recourses across the sector for holistic improvement and the quality of access to quality education experiences as is our rights,” Walrond-Lewis added
Meanwhile, Education Minister Priya Manickchand stated that the COVID-19 pandemic caught the world by surprise but showed how flawed many education systems are with only the traditional method of delivering education. “We have looked at every possible way of delivering education that is not the traditional way,” she said before noting that the ministry has embarked on a number of projects which will allow for learning to continue.
She said this particular project will help build a more robust system, which will incorporate technology with the traditional delivery of education.
“We believe there is going to come a time when we will be unable to deliver certain topics, subjects without the usage of technology. One of many important things regarding introducing technology and other modes of distance education in our system so we can meet the needs that COVID has presented but we say that with great confidence that this introduction of technology will not stop when COVID ends and this will be fully incorporated in our education system everywhere in Guyana so that we can be more effective at every level,” Manickchand stated.
She subsequently disclosed that all tablets and laptops were procured through an open bid process.
