The laptops to be distributed as part of the government’s US$30 million ‘One Laptop Per Family’ (OLPF) project have begun arriving in the country, coordinator of the programme Sash Sukhdeo said at a meeting held at the Health Ministry on Wednesday, January 12.
Wednesday’s meeting discussed how the computers will be programmed and how they will be distributed to the eligible families. Government plans to distribute 90,000 computers to poor families across the country.
Guyana Times International was told that as part of the planning phase of the project coordinators will be meeting with each government minister to discuss the way forward. Sukhdeo. Health Minister Dr Leslie Ramsammy and other officials on Tuesday met at the Health Ministry’s boardroom and discussed how the project will be executed and how the laptops will be programmed.
Minister Ramsammy in an invited comment told Guyana Times International that Guyana has developed into a middle income country and it is therefore necessary to implement measures so that ordinary families can benefit from the current advancement in Information and Communications Technology.
He noted that as the country continues to develop, there is need for citizens to recognise this development and change their perception that only people from the developed countries can have access to certain technology.
He urged Guyanese to change their mindset and stop seeing Guyana as an impoverished country: “In this age at the second decade of the 21st Century, ICT must reach the ordinary family. Not so long ago when I came back to this country I was one of the few people with a computer, now we are talking about every family with a computer.”
He added: “The reality right now is at the level where the laptop has begun to arrive in the country and we are in the process of deciding what should be on the laptop and how it would reach the family and how the family would make use of the laptop.”
He noted that it was never promised that the laptop would be something that would just be handed over to the families because then it would defeat the purpose and will not be the reality of the dream envisaged by government to have families informed and well able to make proper use of information technology.
“By doing this programme we are going to make people see, feel and think as if we are now a much more developed country than we used to be. So while there are opportunities for the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and so on, I believe that in terms of dealing with the psyche of the Guyanese population, the OLPF is going to drive this process of making people see this development and I hope that this will drive people to be better off,” the minister noted.
He further said that previously, people were of the view that only young people will be able to use a computer but now government is stressing the need for older persons to also use the computer.
Dr Ramsammy further said that this programme is saying to people that we are living in a much more developed country and emphasised the need for people`s behaviour to become consistent with that development. That is the vision of the programme, he noted.
The initiative is being headed by Senior Project Manager Sash Sukhdeo in the Project Management Office, of Office of the President and is geared towards supporting and fostering community and economic development within the framework of the Low Carbon Development Strategy.
The office has since advertised for participants who will serve as ICT trainers throughout Guyana who will be required to commit one year of service in exchange for training and a laptop.
Late last year, President Bharat Jagdeo disclosed a plan to establish a centre in each Amerindian community where a bank of computers with internet access will be available. The initiative will be pursued over the next two years, starting with the larger villages.
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