All hinterland, riverine communities to get Smart classroom by year-end

The ‘Smart Classroom’ initiative which is a part of the Education Ministry is expected to be implemented in every hinterland and riverine community by the end of this year.

The ministry revealed that thus far, 54 per cent of schools in Regions One, Seven, Eight, and Nine are benefitting from this programme. The disclosure was made by Minister, Priya Manickchand, while speaking at the National Toshaos Council Conference (NTC) on Tuesday. She disclosed that the initiative will allow lessons to be taught virtually to students from various schools.

Manickchand stressed that it will also serve as one of the many methods of the ministry to bridge the gap in education delivery in hinterland and riverine communities.

“When we first conceived the programme, we wanted every class to have a television so at any point the teachers could access channels, but what we did not cater for was the size of the schools, and so that is an issue across the regions that there is more than they need,” she said.

Minister Manickchand is urging villagers to take advantage of the classroom to keep up with the country’s public affairs or host movie nights as a community event.

“We will have an agreement with the toshaos (about this). You have access to cable tv because of E-Network, so we want you to open this up to the village, of course, you need to be careful,” the minister noted.

The education minister pointed out that since the launch of the programme in 2021, the ministry has been able to commission several smart classrooms in Regions Three, Six and Ten.

She pointed out that Queen’s College, President’s College, Brickdam Secondary, East Ruimveldt Multilateral, Leonora Secondary and several schools in the East Berbice Corentyne region are just some of the schools to benefit from this initiative.

The minister added that each smart classroom is equipped with smart boards, microphone, cameras and all the necessary accessories to ensure effective communication among teachers on the coast and students in the hinterland communities.