Spark Initiative can break mental, economic poverty chains for youths – NCERD Director

Catapulting the use of technology for innovative ideas and developing leadership skills through the Spark Initiative is a gateway for this and future generations of youths to exit mental and economic poverty.

The Education Ministry in collaboration with the LEAD Mindset, JASECI Labs and BCS Technology hosted the Spark Showcase at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) on Monday to wrap up the two-month long initiative.
Three main objectives of this programme are to equip young people with the skills to leverage technology to spark innovation and economic opportunities; equip youths with a leadership mindset called the LEAD mindset; and catalyse the region economically by capturing locally sourced innovative ideas.

It provided participating students with the necessary tools to solve problems and develop leadership capacity.
Director of NCERD, Quenita Walrond-Lewis shared that this is the opportune time to equip this generation and the next with the technology culture shift. It will also break the mental and economic poverty chains for some persons.
“This technological culture shift is the mental, spiritual, emotional space all young Guyanese should be inhabiting, so that you become the game changers, not just adapting yourselves to circumstances in the world, but by creating those environments yourself.”
The kind of knowledge, skills and competences you would have learnt over this programme will shift your generational trajectory for those who will come after you. This is a pathway to cycles of poverty being broken. It doesn’t have to be economic poverty. It can be poverty of the mind,” she added.
Meanwhile, Founder of the LEAD Mindset, Denise Hilliman shared that the art of innovation should be accessible to all in a world where technology is rapidly evolving.
“We all know the world is changing, and it’s changing fast. Technology is greatly accelerating those changes. But there is a widening skills gap between users of technology and creators of technology. Those who fail to take action to bridge that gap will die or less importantly, will not succeed,” Hilliman pointed out.
Chief Education Officer, Dr Marcel Hutson underscored that young Guyanese could benefit from a greater degree of career guidance, psychosocial support and overall encouragement in these skills areas. This will create a monumental change in their collective development.
“Every school must now embrace its capacity for fostering the next quarter of leaders for this beautiful country of ours. It is our sincere hope that all the beneficiaries of this programme will completely internalise the deep significance and input of this undertaking to their individual and collective development. I hope that you have established a network of professional colleagues, that you can undoubtedly expand aspiring for your individual and collective benefits. Those of us who are steeped in leadership, you will always hear about a community of learners,” Dr Hutson told the participants.
For eight weeks, students from various schools and technical institutions benefitted from two tracks: leadership and creating change; and focusing on artificial intelligence and building such software under the Spark programme. Fifty-two of them graduated from the programme. (G12)