STEMGuyana is set to benefit from the financial support of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through its IDB Lab, which will help some 1,000 children across 40 communities in all ten regions of Guyana.
The IDB in a statement yesterday disclosed that the IDB Lab will be investing US$950,000 in the three-year programme, “Guyana’s Learning Pods – Supporting Success in Education for Vulnerable Children”. This includes technology tools and supplementary learning in Math, English, and Science.
IDB Lab is the IDB Group’s innovation laboratory to promote development through the private sector by identifying, supporting, testing and piloting new solutions to development challenges and seeking to create opportunities for poor and vulnerable populations in the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Region.
According to the release, the STEMGuyana pilot will expand the education model, which caters to children ages seven to fifteen from low-income and vulnerable communities. In the pilot, small groups of children in communities across Guyana have access to a connected learning platform at a local community centre to foster ‘STEM’ skills, with the support of an in-person facilitator and an online teacher.
The IDB Lab support, the release added, will create more ‘Learning Pod’ centres for public spaces for students from grades one through ten, to access content and technology tools, as well as in-person and online live teaching sessions, three times per week. The programme will use the core public school curriculum for an expanded range of subjects.
“The Learning Pods programme provides for small class in person and tech driven learning support for students who have been disadvantaged by the COVID pandemic school closures, and also ensures their safety as the programme makes available cleaning supplies, masks, and temperature checks to all enrolled students,” Karen Abrams of STEMGuyana explained.
The ‘Learning Pod’ programme is expected to contribute to better performance of all students and help reduce attrition from the school system while targeting 50 per cent participation of girls.
Meanwhile, Guyana’s IDB Chief of Operations and acting Country Representative, Lorena Solorzano Salazar, noted that “opportunities are increasing in Guyana and the demand for skills is rapidly changing,” adding, “There is need for us to adapt and learn innovative technologies and talents that can contribute to inclusive and sustainable development and guarantee the future wellbeing of our people, our country and the region.”
STEM Guyana expects a future expansion of the programme to benefit as many as 5,000 vulnerable students over the life of the investment post COVID-19, the release added.
