Twenty-three persons from Region 10 graduated from courses in Office Ethics, Introduction to Windows, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, Excel, Access, Outlook, Computer Repairs, and Networking.
There was a 95 per cent pass rate, with Andrea Dover being the top student with 82.4 per cent. The recipients benefited from an initiative facilitated by the Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF), a Guyana government programme providing funding to aid local development.
Finance Minister Ashni Singh (centre front row) poses with members of the graduating class
Delivering the feature address at the graduation ceremony, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh explained that government recognises “that those who have access to computers will acquire the skills; but we also believe very strongly, as a government, that we cannot entertain a situation where only those who can afford a computer or attend schools with computer labs, but that every Guyanese, irrespective of their income, occupation, and residence, must have this access.” Singh told the graduates that President Bharrat Jagdeo has conceptualized this situation as the domestic digital divide; that is, those who have access to a computer are able to acquire the skills, while those without access are denied. He said the president, in response to this situation, has decided that this divide must be bridged, thereby ensuring that every single Guyanese has access to the computer.
“This means creating and equipping computer centres; constructing and equipping ICT labs at schools; training teachers to deliver IT education; and bringing computer hardware into homes via the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) programme,” he emphasised.
Singh expressed his satisfaction at being able to attend the graduation ceremony, which presented him the opportunity to put in context such training programmes within the national agenda, since government believes that all Guyanese should be equipped with skills relevant to the economy of today and that of tomorrow.
“When we speak of the National Budget’s theme: “Building Tomorrow’s Guyana Today”, that theme could not be more relevant than on an occasion when we speak of Guyanese acquiring IT skills – the theme of partnership, the theme of tomorrow and the theme of doing that work today”, Dr Singh explained, while contextualising the 2011 Budget theme.
“We have said, in almost every major policy document issued by the government — including our National ICT Strategy, and importantly, including successive national budgets – (that) we believe that the future of our country lies in a more diversified economy, and in particular an economy that mobilises current and future technologies to aid deficiency, to create new opportunities for growth and expansion, and to improve people’s lives (by) ensuring they have the skills to get jobs, (and) the tools to access information, to ensure they are well informed,” he emphasised.
Dr Singh posited that each one of these dimensions has been unfolding, and today the ability to use IT in an office environment literally transforms employees’ efficiency.
