Awash in oil money, Guyana unveils a new digital school to boost education in the Caribbean

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyana’s government has launched an online school expected to boost the education of thousands of students in the South American nation’ s vast and largely impoverished Amazonian regions and the wider Caribbean.

More than 30,000 local and regional students have already enrolled in the Guyana Digital School, which offers high school courses but expects to expand its curriculum next year.

“This is a program that will provide real quality education for students in the entire country simultaneously, covering all subject areas. We are also providing free access to our Caribbean neighbors, and we noted that people even from India are logging on. This will be a game changer for education delivery in Guyana,” Deputy Chief Education Officer Ritesh Tularam told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Basic subjects including science, technology and the humanities are available to students “who no longer have to go to a physical school to get an education,” he said.

Guyanese President Irfaan Ali announced the program late Friday, saying it will allow students to learn with high quality digital tools.

Tularam said some may question why the government is investing so heavily in digitization.

“The future of the world will be digital. The future of the economy will be digital, and the future of work will be digital,” he said. “We are not investing to be fashionable; we’re not investing to please consultants; we’re not investing to follow global trends blindly; we’re investing because this is where global opportunity is being created.”

The school is not designed to eliminate physical classrooms in Guyana, where the state education system is free.

Earlier this year, the oil-rich country announced the resumption of a free university education, which had been paused since the mid-1990s. Officials have said that the country’s newly found wealth allows for free education since nearly $10 million flows to the treasury daily from its oil sector.

The new digital school was welcomed by leaders across the Caribbean who praised Ali’s initiative.

“Whether it is in the coastlands or hinterlands of Guyana, whether it is in Barbados or St. Kitts or St. Lucia, we want to ensure our children have that ability to learn at their fingertips,” Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said.

Meanwhile, Grenada’s prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, said he has already instructed his education minister to ensure they are actively participating in the new digital school.