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‘Internet access at Fairview will revolutionise learning’ – Fairview Toshao, Headteacher
Catherine Hughes, Minister of Public Telecommunications in conversation with Head teacher of Fairview Primary, Quado Vancooten
Toshao of Fairview, Potaro-Siparuni (Region Eight), Lucy Marslow, has welcomed the efforts of the Ministry of Public Telecommunications in providing internet access to that community, given the present constraints in the education sector there.
During a community outreach to Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine), Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes and her team which included Chairman of the National Data Management Authority (NDMA), Floyd Levi, visited the community to listen to the concerns of the residents and leaders as it related to access Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
During a meeting held at the Fairview Primary School on February 17, 2018, Toshao Marslow took the opportunity to highlight the numerous challenges the village faces as a result of limited internet access.
Marslow said there is a Grade Nine Assessment that the students in the region usually write to move onto Secondary School, but due to lack of resources many of them fail the examination and opt to drop out of school.
However, with the establishment of an ICT hub and the smart classroom set up, Toshao Marslow said a new window of opportunity will be available to these youths to develop themselves academically.
“We have young adults who wish to further their studies to get CXC because they hadn’t the chance to do it. That [internet access] will come in very useful for those persons,” she noted.
Head teacher of the Fairview Primary, Quado Vancooten, said the internet access will also enable the pupils, who are sitting the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) to download the recently launched Math app in preparation for the examination.
Vancooten believes the app “will revolutionise learning because I was made to understand it has step by step working…so we are in for exciting times and I can hardly wait for that Math app to hit Fairview.”
Minister Hughes committed to providing training for not only the students, but the adults in the village on the general use of the computer and internet.
“If there are younger persons in the community that like working with computers or mobile phones, we know that there are a lot of different jobs that we could help to mould them to fill,” the minister said.
Meantime, the NDMA Chairman informed the gathering that the plan is to connect Fairview to the satellite at the Iwokrama River Lodge, where there is an E-Government free internet connection.
An ICT hub will also be established at the Fairview Multipurpose building, which is a short distance from the Primary school.
Levi assured the residents, Toshao and Headteacher, “We will provide computer equipment [and] free access to the internet in a community setting.”
Fairview currently receives telephone and data service from the Guyana Telephone and Telegraph (GT&T) Company, however residents stated that there are difficulties with the internet speed.
Minister Hughes and team gave assurances that the goal is not only to provide the access but to ensure it is fast, reliable and efficient.
Providing internet access in these communities is part of the Government’s efforts of bridging the gap between Coastland and Hinterland.
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