IDB Lab, the innovative laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) announced today that it is providing financial support to STEM Guyana Inc. to help 1000 children across 40 communities in all ten regions of Guyana.
The financial institution said this support includes technology tools and supplementary learning in Math, English, and Science. IDB Lab noted too that US$950,000 is being invested in the three-year programme, ‘Guyana’s Learning Pods – Supporting Success in Education for Vulnerable Children.’
Guyana Standard understands that the STEM Guyana pilot will expand the education model, which caters to children ages seven to fifteen from low-income and vulnerable communities. In the pilot, small groups of children in communities across Guyana access a connected learning platform at a local community centre to foster ‘STEM’ skills, with the support of an in-person facilitator and an online teacher.
The IDB Lab was keen to note that support will create more ‘Learning Pod’ centres for public spaces for students from grades one through ten, to access content and technology tools, as well as in-person and online live teaching sessions, three times per week.
The programme is expected to use the core public school curriculum for an expanded range of subjects.
Additionally, STEM Guyana, a nonprofit tech organization that partners with public and private sector agencies and uses software tools to help solve national and regional problems, said it expects a future expansion of the programme to benefit as many as 5,000 vulnerable students over the life of the investment post-COVID-19.
