Trainee teachers, recent CPCE graduates to get govt laptops

Last Updated on Wednesday, 5 August 2015, 18:31 by GxMedia

Current trainees and recent graduates of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) are to be priority recipients of the remaining 10,000 laptops to be allocated under the One Laptop for Family (OLPF) Project.

Teachers who have completed the CPCE leg of their studies and are now pursuing studies at the University of Guyana (UG) leg are also slated to receive OLPF laptops after the current administration revises the policies which guide the distribution of the laptops.

These statements were made by Governance Minister, Raphael Trotman during the weekly post-Cabinet press briefing on Wednesday. During last weeks- briefing, Trotman had indicated to the press that government was mulling abandoning the policies which the former administration used to guide the dissemination of the laptops under the project.

Formerly, laptops were given to those who government perceived as most in need. Trotman criticised the conceptualisation and execution of the project, arguing that it was not well thought out.

The OLPF project commenced in 2012 and the former administration had said that its intention was to distribute 95,000 laptops by the end of 2015. The year is almost through, however, and government has disseminated 55,000 laptops. Just before the change in administration, another shipment of 10,000 laptops was ordered which is currently on its way to Guyana.

Last week Trotman said that it was his own belief that the laptops would make a greater impact if they were given to teachers, although he had not stated what criteria would be used. On Wednesday however, he said that trainees at CPCE, recent graduates, and teachers currently pursuing the UG leg of the qualification process will be the recipients of the OLPF laptops.

Last week, General Secretary of the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPPC), Clement Rohee, criticised what he sees as a lack of information on how the remaining 10,000 laptops would be distributed. He further said that the party believes that the lack of disclosure may indicate that the current administration is planning to give the laptops to “friends and cronies.”

He provided no evidence to substantiate the assertion.