“It takes a village” is often said, but when young students are supported by adults who believe in them, amazing things happen. Lake Mainstay primary school teacher, Ms Sharmala Singh is one such adult and she has proven once again that region 2’s consistent academic performance, and its teachers’ commitment to excellence, is no fluke. Already this year, the Lake Mainstay learning pod which Ms Singh leads has been voted club of the month, but she quickly added to the accolades by steering her pod’s robotics team to a bronze medal in the IYRC (International Youth Robotics Challenge) and then subsequent 100% passes for the 8 NGSS students who are among the 24 scholars at the Lake Mainstay Learning pod.
Eight students from the Lake Mainstay Learning Pod sat for the NGSA grade 6 exam and all 8 of them passed–3 for President’s college, 3 for the renowned Anna Regina Secondary School and 2 for Abram Zuil.
The Learning pod program is an after-school technology education initiative sponsored by the IDB and supported by the Guyana Diaspora, Tullow Oil and several public and private entities. The goal is to contribute to the closing of the academic gap by students largely affected by the COVID pandemic. The program includes technology integrated lesson plans based on the MOE’s curriculum, robotics, coding, and the strengthening of soft skills like leadership, problem solving, collaboration, conflict resolution and communication.
