Govt. borrows from IDB to purchase 5000 flash drives

May 09, 2022 News

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Education will be utilising a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to purchase some 5000 flash drives, in an effort to recover learning losses during the restrictions imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a request for bids (RFB) published in the Sunday edition of Kaieteur News, “The Cooperative Republic of Guyana has received a loan from the Inter-American Development Bank toward the cost of ‘Support to Safety Nets for Vulnerable Populations Affected by Coronavirus in Guyana (Component 2) and it intends to apply part of this loan to payments under the contract for the procurement of 5000 flash drives for schools.”
The advertisement explained that the RFB will be conducted through the national competitive bidding procedures of the IDBs policies for the procurement of goods and works. As such, bidders from all eligible countries are welcome.
The notice did not provide details pertaining to who would be the beneficiaries of the flash drives; neither did it explain how the procurement of such equipment would aid in the educational advancement of students or pupils.
Efforts made by this newspaper to contact the Ministry for further details regarding the procurement of the flash drives were futile. Up to press time, there was no response to questions submitted by Kaieteur News.
Just over a week ago, this newspaper reported that the IDB was preparing to loan the Education Ministry US$27 million to support the transformation of the education sector which suffered considerable learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The loan is also expected to help the country build the required human capital it needs to manage its oil resources while driving economic growth and diversification.
This publication understands that the proposed first operation of the US$27 million loan comes with the following objectives: implement student-centered learning pedagogies and 21st century skills, focusing on vulnerable populations including indigenous peoples, boys and children with migration background; and improve and expand access to safe and improved learning environments.
There are various components of the loan, one is entitled ‘Support for Students at Risk and subcomponent two, speaks to Digital Transformation. The latter carries two sub-components.
Over the last seven years, the IDB said it observed that Guyana experienced rapid economic growth and transformation, with its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita increasing from US$6,600 in 2019 to US$9,370 in 2021. In 2020 GDP grew by 43.5 percent and is expected to grow by an annual average of 36.2 percent between 2020 and 2023.
The financial institution said this economic transformation allows the government to plan and implement long-needed investments in its social sector. But if it is to ensure the country has the required human capital to manage economic growth and diversification, the IDB said the development of Guyana’s human capital has to be prioritized by the government, hence, it believes that the US$27 million loan to the Education Ministry is more than justified.

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