Alumnus gifts Bath Primary School Computer Lab

Mar 30, 2014 News

– noble gesture expected to help bridge technological gap

Many people are today owners of technological devices that allow them to access the internet. Moreover, it could easily be concluded by many that having access to at least a computer can no longer be considered a luxury.

A beaming Anthony Trevor Subryan

This however, may not be true for some factions right here in Guyana.
Take for instance the community of Bath Settlement in Region Five where there are a depressed few who don’t have ready access to a computer, much less the internet. This is even in light of the Government’s rather ambitious One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme.
However, this state of affairs is expected to become a thing of the past, at least for pupils of the Bath Primary School, many of whom claim that they have never before had access to a computer.
The school has been furnished with a computer laboratory, a facility that is entirely funded by one of its past alumni, Anthony Trevor Subryan, who many years ago migrated to Toronto, Canada.
Subryan was in fact born and raised at Bath Estate, Region Five, and attended the Bath Primary School before moving on to the Port Mourant Training Centre to pursue studies in Engineering. He graduated in 1969 with first class honours and was soon after employed at the Blairmont Estate as a Factory Foreman. He remained there for one year after which he migrated to Canada.
He understandably furthered his education in Canada and was soon well qualified in the area of Mechanical Engineering Technology.
Subyran is today the proud owner of his own Company, ATS Engineering Inc. and is recognised worldwide as a leader in packaging equipment for the dairy industry.
His success over the years saw him adopting the role of a philanthropist to the Guyanese Diaspora in Canada. But in his quest to give back to the community from which he came, Subryan decided that he was going to procure in excess of a dozen computers to set-up the computer laboratory for his old primary school.
Although a number of persons helped him put measures in place to realise this goal, Subryan disclosed that the whole idea was in fact one designed to be a tribute to his wife, Marian Subryan, who passed away last year. As such the computer laboratory has been named in her honour – ‘The Marian Subryan Computer Laboratory’.

The ceremonial ribbon is cut to officially commission the Computer Laboratory.

“It is a dream come through for myself to see this project in Bath Primary School; it is a dream come through for the children of Bath to know that there are people out there who care…it is people out there who do not forget where they came from and what they can do for the place they came from,” said an emotional Subryan during a ceremony to commission the Laboratory on Thursday last.
In a moving speech to a gathering of mainly pupils, their parents and teachers, Subryan voiced his conviction that “if we can all do these things we can make Guyana one of the greatest nations as it was before.”
Reminiscing on his school days at Bath Primary, Subryan said that he walked to school – from Bath Estate to Bath Settlement – daily to attend school since his parents were confident he was smart and was going to do well. He remembered that although the Bath community was poverty-stricken the teachers even then were proficient at ensuring that they educate those within their charge well. “I wrote the College of Preceptors Exam in the wing that was built for a few of us who couldn’t even afford to go New Amsterdam to study but we did beat all the students in all the high schools in New Amsterdam…so we had great teachers here,” recounted Subryan.
As such he pointed out that giving back to his school and by extension the community was in fact a natural move for him.
Speaking directly to pupils of the school, Subryan underscored that “if I can come from Bath Settlement and make it to where I am today you can do it too…opportunities are tremendous; there are thousands of opportunities every single day and all you have to do is look, reach out and grab it.”
Moreover, Subryan said that he has been fervently dispelling the notion that “opportunity only comes once.” “That is totally untrue; opportunity comes every single day so bear that in mind and tell them I said it is absolutely incorrect,” said Subryan of detractors.
But in order for available opportunities to become a reality, Subryan stressed the importance of dedicated studying since according to him “nothing comes easy; once you put your mind to something you can do wonders for this community and for this country…”
And so it is the expectation of Subryan that the computer laboratory will help in some way to contribute to helping the students find ways that they too could give back to their homeland. According to Head Mistress of the School, Ms Seeolchanie Parasram, the endowment will cater well to the computer learning needs of the 557 pupils of the school. She disclosed too that the teachers of the school are also ready for the technological exposure the facility is expected to bring.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, assists a pupil with the use a computer.

Parasram disclosed that although the teaching staffers, along with the Parent/Teacher Association, have long been working tirelessly to enhance the delivery of the curriculum at the school the donation from Subryan will further bolster efforts in this regard.
Moreover, Regional Chairman, Bindrahan Bisnauth, who graced the simple ceremony on Thursday, did not hesitate to encourage Subryan to further extend his philanthropic ways in the Region Five area.
Speaking at the ceremony too was Regional Education Officer, Owen Pollard, who in his efforts to amplify the importance of technology highlighted that “with the passage of time technology has become a powerful arena that is rapidly growing and governs the world today.”
He therefore emphasised the need for the education system to embrace this evolution at every level, pointing out that although it was from the secondary level that students are encouraged to embrace technology “we cannot forget technology at the primary schools…it plays an important role.”
He recognised the introduction of a computer laboratory at the Bath Primary School as a step in the right direction since it is the first of 30 primary institutions in Region Five to have such a facility in place.
The Computer Laboratory was officially commissioned by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, who noted that such an addition to the school comes at a time when efforts are being made to “partner sensibly” to ensure the population benefits. Moreover she, in commending the move to introduce the Laboratory, said that “this donation could not have come at a better time for us…I am extremely happy to join the Subryan family and the Bath Community to commission this Lab…”