Autism school receives $500,000 from GPL

The Step-by-Step Foundation Autism School on Friday received a donation of $500,000 from the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) as that company celebrated its 22nd anniversary.
Each year, during the company’s anniversary month, a donation is made to a worthy cause in efforts to raise awareness.
The Step-by-Step Foundation Autism School was selected as a recipient for its efforts at providing education to children diagnosed with autism.
The donation was made at the Education Ministry’s Boardroom at Brickdam in the presence of Chief Education Officer (CEO) Dr Marcel Hutson; Vice-Chairman of the Step-by-Step Foundation Autism School, Cynthia Massay; along with several tutors of the school and representatives of GPL.
GPL’s Public Relations Officer Natalie Pindar said the Step-by-Step Foundation Autism School “caught our attention because they are focusing on autism, a condition that is…not much is known about autism. And so, our partnership and moving forward in terms of us cementing a relationship with the Step-by-Step Foundation is really to bring awareness to the cause.”
Meanwhile, Vice Chair of Step-by-Step, Cynthia Massay, said, “We’re extremely grateful to GPL and the Ministry of Education for all the support they have been giving us over the past few years.”
Chief Education Officer Dr Marcel Hutson noted that the Education Ministry has a Special Education Needs (SEN) unit, which has an understanding of autism, and how children on the spectrum could be helped.
He revealed that the Ministry pays the employees of the Step-by-Step Foundation and assists with the development of the curriculum.
This is helpful to the Foundation, Massay said, because it has to host fund-raising activities to support its work.
CEO Hutson added that “Part of the Ministry of Education’s strategic plan has to do with making sure that our children who have special education needs, that those needs are attended to strategically, so that those children also could fulfill potential, because we learned a long time ago that notwithstanding the condition or the situation that the child may be facing, each child is born gifted.”
Dr Hutson said therefore that it is the Ministry’s intention to ensure that the gifting of each child is nurtured, so they could have an opportunity to impact their own lives and the nation positively.