Four hinterland schools latest beneficiaries of e-gov network programme
Students from four hinterland secondary schools in Regions Seven, Eight and Nine are the latest beneficiaries of government’s e-government programme. The programme was rolled out in 2016 is designed to inter-connect Government Ministries and agencies.
Presidential Advisor, E-government, Floyd Levi explained to the Department of Public Information/Government Information Agency (DPI/GINA) that, “so far we have connected the high schools in Lethem at St. Ignatius, Sandcreek, Paramakatoi, Waramadong and we’re working on the one at Annai (at) Bina Hill. These are the dormitory high schools in the hinterland and we’ve connected them the same way we’ve connected the schools on the coast.”
Levi noted that the eGovernment Agency has provided internet delivered via satellite to the classrooms to facilitate students’ internet use, for appropriate school related activities. He added that the agency is working to facilitate the major schools in the hinterland and then proceed to the smaller ones.
As it relates to Ministry’s Information Communications Technology (ICT) hub Levi notes that the project is on-going. He told DPI/GINA that currently there 67 hubs along the coast and the hinterland regions. He said these can be used for education purposes and for government business during the day and in the evening “they will open up for the communities to have access to them.”
Also, the Masakanari community way down southin Region Nine is also benefitting from high speed internet access for the first time.
Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes explained to DPI/GINA that the aim is to ensure that, “We can connect especially our hinterland remote communities and also there is a special emphasis on poor communities. We feel that if the technology is used correctly in the area of telemedicine, online learning or for education, we will be able to transform Guyana.”
The Minister likened the future of Guyana to one she envisaged will be technologically advanced. She noted that providing manual services can be tedious and expensive which can be changed with the use of technology. Minister Hughes is confident that Guyana will be transformed and Guyanese will benefit from improved services across the board.
The government’s e-government programme has seen 86 secondary schools, three Regional Education Officers (REO), three Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) branches, two University of Guyana (UG) Campuses and six technical and vocational institutions equipped with reliable high-speed access to educational content in their computer laboratories, in addition to advancing the effectiveness of law enforcement.
