Mobile and computer apps to help boost education delivery in Guyana’s schools

Following the success of the Guyanese delegation during the country’s inaugural participation at the Robotics Challenge in Washington, DC, the Education Ministry on Monday entered into a collaboration with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Guyana which will see the designing of mobile and computer applications to be used as teaching aids in schools across Guyana.

This announcement was made during a courtesy call by First Lady Sandra Granger to Education Minister Nicolette Henry at the Ministry’s Head Office in Brickdam.
During the meeting, the First Lady underlined the importance of the pending apps, noting that this initiative would foster a pool of creative and critical thinkers among the younger generation that makes up a large part of our population.
According to Mrs Granger, the intention is to create apps for all subject areas taught in schools with the National Centre for Resource Development (NCERD) assisting with the necessary information to populate these apps.
She went on to say that they would augment the teaching of specific subject areas and would allow for parents to monitor the academic development of their children as well. Additionally, it will ensure that the children have enough materials available to exercise their minds and at the same time, put their skills to the test.
The First Lady is of the opinion that if action is not taken swiftly, youths in Guyana will always be playing ‘catch up’ as she believes it is imperative that the young population confirms to the norms of the evolving Information Communication Technology (ICT) era.
On that note, Mrs Granger, who is the head of the STEM Guyana team, relayed, “The main objective is to ensure performance improvement of our children.” She continued, “We are eager to work with the Ministry to move Guyana forward.”
Meanwhile, in responding to the First Lady, Education Minister Henry highlighted that the work currently undertaken by the STEM team aligned with the mission of the Ministry.
Henry said the time has come for education delivery in the school system to adopt a modern approach and the building of the apps would help in this regard and, as such, she anticipated the fruits of this partnership.
Moreover, she further indicated that officials attached to the Education Ministry, including Senior Technical Adviser Brigette Hinds and Dr Marcia Thomas of NCERD, will work in tandem with STEM Guyana to chart the way forward for the project.
In fact, building on previous financial support, Minister Henry announced that the Education Ministry would be offering further tangible financial support to the team of youths to attend next year’s robotic competition slated for Mexico. This, she said, would be money “well spent”.
The apps, which are being crafted by the very team from this year’s robotics competition, are expected to be rolled out in schools by next year and will target students from Grades One to Six at various educational institutions throughout the country.