President Ali launches new Guyana Digital School

Dec 06, 2025 News

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– over 20,000 already enrolled

(Kaieteur News) – With a staggering 20,368 students from Grades 10 and 11 across Guyana and the Caribbean already connected, President Irfaan Ali on Friday officially launched the new Guyana Digital School (GDS) at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

 

The president assured that the initiative will not replace the traditional classroom or make school obsolete, but will rather bridge gaps by providing high-quality education to learners using digital tools. It will also offer a fully digital curriculum aligned learning experience for secondary school students preparing for CXC examinations.

In his keynote address, President Ali stated that the digital school is not simply an educational project, but an economic transformation for Guyana and the CARICOM region, rooted in one simple truth, that is the world has changed, and it is changing faster than any time before in human history.

He said the new wave is already reshaping the global economy, refining productivity, rewriting rules of competitiveness and redrawing the map of opportunity.

“Some may ask, why is the government investing so heavily in digitisation? Why are we racing toward digital education, digital infrastructure, digital services and I will answer them simply, the future of the world will be digital. The future of the economy will be digital, and the future of work will be digital. We are not investing to be fashionable, we’re not investing to please consultants, we’re not investing to follow global trends blindly, we’re investing because this is where global opportunity is being created,” he explained.

According to the head-of-state, the future of education is digital. Noting that Guyana had to adapt quickly to the digital world, he said the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the transition and exposed the country’s vulnerabilities, the gaps in digital literacy, in infrastructure, in training, and in readiness.

With the establishment of the new digital school, President Ali said classrooms will not disappear.

“What it means is that education will be enhanced, expanded, democratised, and reinvented by digital tools and for a country like Guyana, with vast geography, remote communities and uneven access, digital education is not just a tool for improvement, it is a tool for equality. And for our Region that is susceptible to so many natural disasters, one of the first things that we try to get back up after natural disaster is communication and electricity, before roofs and homes and everything. And once those two things are back up, education is back up to the Digital School,” he elaborated.

Further, he noted that the digital school is a gateway and hub for digital learning. Through the school, he noted that they hope to create high quality digital content, empower students with skills that match global standards, close the digital divide in education between coastline and hinterland, offering alternative pathways for learning, especially for those who cannot access traditional schooling easily. It will eventually support adult learners, out of school, youth and lifelong learners.

The school, he added, is not simply a response to the present, but rather it is an investment in the future and that it is a declaration of a country that knows where it is going and refuses to be left behind.

Importantly, he mentioned that the digital school will have a digital library with all of the textbooks students require for CSEC and every single examination.

Meanwhile, in her remarks, Minister of Education, Sonia Parag said the school will introduce new avenues for learning, so that no child will fall behind because of distance, circumstance or pace.

“We all witnessed during the COVID-19 pandemic, how quickly the world can change and how fragile learning becomes when a system relies on a single mode of delivery. Students everywhere lost time they can never fully regain, and countries across the world are still grappling with the learning loss of that period. In Guyana, the Guyana Digital School is designed to guard against that vulnerability. It stands beside our classrooms as a resilient, flexible partner, giving teachers, parents and students, consistent support, even in times of uncertainty,” she informed.

Countries including Barbados, Belize, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis are already benefitting from the programme, which will continue to expand to Grades Seven through Nine by early 2026.

Parag related that the Guyana Digital School is grounded in a holistic four quadrant approach that blends technology, content, engagement and hands on experience into one cohesive model of learning. “It brings together interactive online classes led by trained educators, a rich library of on demand, digital resources, programmes that build wider skills beyond the curriculum, and practical activity-based projects that help students apply what they learn,” she remarked.

Addressing the ceremony virtually, was Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley and Prime Minister of Grenada, Dickon Mitchell who both lauded the new initiative stating that the wider Caribbean students will benefit significantly from this innovative platform.

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• digital learning, Guyana Digital School, President Irfaan Ali, students

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