Education and information

Nov 27, 2016 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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(Address by His Excellency Brigadier David Granger, President of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, at the launching of the One Laptop per Teacher Initiative at the Cyril Potter College of Education)

“I am happy to be present in this College dedicated to the memory of Robert Cyril Gladstone Potter.

Cyril Potter was born 117 years ago in May 1899 at Graham’s Hall where his father ran a school. He attended Queen’s College and the Mico College in Jamaica and became Principal of the Government Training College for Teachers.
Cyril Potter is one of the most eminent and talented Guyanese of all time. He wrote the words of our National Anthem and composed the famous ‘My Guiana El Dorado.’ He is a role model for teachers. It is most appropriate that this College should have been dedicated to his memory. It was my fortune to have been taught by him. I feel honoured to be here today.
Where do correct ideas come from? The One Laptop per Teacher Initiative is a correct idea that arose more than five years ago. It came out my interaction with the villagers of Annai, Aranaputa and Surama in the Rupununi Region in October 2011. I gave a teacher a laptop and she was so grateful. She was grateful because the computer helped her to prepare her lesson plans.
I iterated my call for “one laptop per teacher” the next year, 2012, when I addressed the 78th convocation of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). I iterated that Guyana could not afford to be left behind, especially in the world of communication and the education revolution which is transforming the rest of the world.
I iterated, “We shall continue to work to ensure that every student teacher and every teacher gets one lap top per teacher whether they are in the hinterland or the coastland… you can’t do without it.”
I was still the Leader of the Opposition at the time. I announced that, should I ever become President of Guyana, every teacher – starting with those teachers who enter the Cyril Potter College of Education – would be given a computer.
The idea of one laptop per teacher was rekindled in 2015. The idea has now evolved into an initiative. A conscious decision has been taken to reshape the remaining phase of the One Laptop per Family (OLPF) Initiative into the One Laptop for Teacher (OLPT) Initiative.
The world has entered the ‘Information Age.’ Information, information technology and innovation are transforming almost every facet of human existence. ICT is revolutionizing education. It is transforming the manner in which information is assembled, organized and disseminated. It is changing the way education is delivered in the classroom.
Teachers are at the heart of any education system. They are vital conduits in the dissemination of information in our education system. They nourish the minds of students by providing information and inculcating values and attitudes for our children. I told the 13th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Area Network for Quality Assurance in Education (CANQUATE), that teachers are the guardians of quality assurance in education. Educational standards will decline unless there is a corps of trained and qualified teachers capable of upholding quality assurance standards in education.
Teachers must be prepared for the new demands of the Information Age. The future of education requires teachers to have a fuller knowledge of ICT and to be adept in using and utilizing the technologies of information.
The One Laptop per Teacher Initiative asserts the importance of education to the nation and acknowledges the role of information in education and the value of our teachers in the delivery of that information to our students and augments the investment in teacher training.
Teachers are essential to education and must lead this process. Teachers must not be left behind Teachers must become familiar with the technologies of information, the gathering of information, data storage and data retrieval.
Teachers will have greater access to ICT and its benefits through the OLPT Initiative. The OLPT Initiative is the beginning of a process of ICT transformation in our educational system. ICT education is no longer optional. It is now mandatory. Citizens of the 21st century must be trained in ICT, whatever their career. Every child and every teacher must be schooled in the art and science of using a computer. ICT education must be mandatory for teachers trained at this College.
The Government will expand access to the Internet for all Guyanese. Internet connectivity will be available in every school in Guyana. Every government building – airport, bank, hospital, police station, post office, school and university must have internet access in due course. I would like to enable every Guyanese to have access to the information superhighway.
The OLTPT Initiative starts the process modernizing ICT development. We have started with our educators, the brain of our public education system. Teachers must be geared for the important role in educating our students for the ‘good life’ as citizens in the 21st century.
The Ministries of Public Telecommunications and must be congratulated for their collaboration in launching this initiative.
The Government of the People’s Republic of China, with which the Cooperative Republic of Guyana has enjoyed cordial relations for 44 years, must be thanked for responding favourably to our request to reshape the original programme.
I thank you.”

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