‘Quiz Me’ in belated launch

THE EDUCATION MINISTRY THIS WEEK LAUNCHED ITS HIGHLY-TOUTED
QUIZ ME PLATFORM five years after it was originally designed to help Grade Six students
become more adept at handling multiple choice questions in Mathematics, English, Social
Studies and Science.
When the MOE formally launched its website in 2014 the facility was imbedded in it but then
the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government lost the next year, and “nothing
happened from 2015 to now (because) of a lack of political will,” by the Granger-led coalition A
Partnership for National Unity, Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government, Education
Minister, Priya Manickchand said.

“We haven’t changed staff. The same professionals and experts that are bringing you this here
were in the Ministry for those five years. The same professionals writing the questions existed.
They were available to this Ministry. What the Ministry did not have was the political will to do
any of these. That is the danger of having people at the helm who have no vision and no interest
in service,” Minister Manickchand observed.
Manickchand launched the initiative earlier this week in the Smart Room of the National Centre
for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Kingston, in the capital. Manickchand said
the Ministry made the Quiz Me Platform available because of shortcomings identified with
worksheets given to students to test their knowledge in the four key subject areas.
She said answer keys didn’t accompany the worksheets make it difficult for some parents to
verify whether their children’s responses were correct.
“The Quiz Me Platform is in direct response to addressing those issues,” according to the MOE
news release.
Explaining the technology, Manickchand said after a student completes a quiz on the website,
their answers are marked within seconds of being submitted so students can gauge their
knowledge.

The Minister promised continuous improvement of the facility for students to be tested on
specific topics, enabling parents to gauge the strengths/weaknesses of their child in specific areas
of the curriculum.
The country’s major internet providers, Guyana Telephone and Telegraph Company (GTT) and
Digicel have partnered with the Education Ministry to make educational resources available to
local students especially as online learning is now critical because of the global COVID-19
pandemic.

Head of Information Systems at the Ministry, Phil Mingo outlined the advantages of the new
learning strategy: “It does not matter whether the end-user has a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or
desktop – old or new, with the access to the internet, the ‘Quiz Me’ platform can still be used and
responds appropriately to the type of devices used. This is also important for users who may
have some level of visual impairment.”
For now, Mingo said, the platform offers multiple-choice questions, but other formats of
questioning will be added later. Students for public and private schools have access to the facility
“in the comfort of their homes anywhere in Guyana”.
‘Quiz Me’ will better prepare students for examinations at various levels set by the
Ministry of Education, Mingo observed.