Beyond The Classroom: Taking Learning Where the People Are
Written by EDYOU FM Staff on September 24, 2026
A lesson does not have to begin when a student walks through a school gate. Sometimes, it begins with the turn of a radio dial. Sometimes, it comes alive on a television screen at home. It might be accessed from a mobile phone, discovered at a community event or encountered during a visit to a school.
Across Guyana, learning is taking different routes to reach students, teachers, families and communities and behind those routes is the Ministry of Education’s Distance Education Unit (DEU).
Through EdYou FM and the Guyana Learning Channel, the DEU continues to expand the ways in which educational content can reach learners. The Unit’s mandate is built around a simple idea: learning should be accessible wherever the learner is.
But what happens behind the screen? Who keeps the signal moving? Who brings the platforms into communities? Who makes sure people know what resources are available to them? This quarter, the DEU took that mission beyond the studio and into the communities it serves.
A television programme can look effortless when it reaches a living room. But behind that broadcast is a network of people, equipment, sites and technical expertise working together to make it possible.
The DEU operates 20 sites across Guyana, with a presence in every administrative region. Regional Site Managers and technicians are an essential part of that network, maintaining the systems responsible for delivering educational content, particularly to communities far from the coast.
TAKING DEU ON THE ROAD
The DEU’s work this quarter was not confined to its transmission sites or studio. The team hit the road, taking its platforms and people directly into communities.
In Region One, the DEU embarked on an outreach programme that brought the team into schools and communities, creating opportunities to connect directly with students and educators while showcasing the Guyana Learning Channel and EdYou FM.
Over the course of five days, the team visited 28 schools, including Kariako Primary School, bringing the DEU experience directly to learners.
These visits were about more than introducing platforms. They created opportunities for conversation, to find out what students are watching, listening to and learning, to engage teachers, to demonstrate available resources and to strengthen the connection between the DEU and the communities it serves.
The team also travelled to Heritage Village in Region One, where the DEU showcased its work to visitors. The booth became a meeting point between education, technology, media and community. Visitors could interact with the team, learn about the Guyana Learning Channel and EdYou FM, and see how distance education can extend learning beyond the traditional classroom.
The DEU was joined at the event by senior government officials, including Prime Minister Mark Phillips, Minister of Education Sonia Parag and Minister of Amerindian Affairs Sarah Browne-Shadeek.
FROM ESSEQUIBO TO EVERYWHERE
The DEU’s outreach continued into Region Three, where the Unit partnered with the Essequibo Technical Institute for the Essequibo Expo .Instead of simply telling visitors about educational television and radio, the team created an interactive experience. Visitors could explore DEU resources, ask questions, test their knowledge, participate in activities and engage directly with the team.
The objective was simple: get connected, learn, play and discover what is available. The Expo provided another opportunity to demonstrate that distance education is not something that exists only inside a broadcast studio. It is a service designed to meet people where they are.
GROWING DIGITAL AUDIENCE
While the DEU has been taking its work into communities physically, its digital audience has been growing online. The Guyana Learning Channel YouTube channel reached 100,000 subscribers, marking a significant digital milestone for the platform. That achievement represents more than a number.
It reflects the changing ways in which learners consume educational content. A student no longer has to wait for a particular programme to come on television. A lesson can be searched for, replayed and shared. Educational content can move from the television screen to a phone and from a classroom to a home.
That evolution is also reflected in EdPal, which extends access to learning through mobile devices. Together, these platforms are giving learners more ways to connect with educational resources, whether through radio, television or mobile technology.
Distance education may use technology to close physical distances, but it is people who make the connection meaningful. The presenter who brings energy to a radio programme. The cameraman capturing a lesson. The editor shaping hours of footage into a few minutes. The technician troubleshooting a transmission. The team member explaining EdYou FM to a parent at an expo. The teacher discovering a new resource for the classroom.
Guyana is changing, and so is the way people learn. The DEU is changing with it. Its work is no longer simply about broadcasting a lesson. It is about creating multiple pathways to learning — through radio, television, mobile technology, digital platforms and direct community engagement.
This quarter, those pathways stretched from Bartica to Region One, from Essequibo to schools and expos, from television screens to mobile phones and from studios to communities. The message is consistent:
Learning can happen anywhere. And wherever the learner is, the DEU is working to make sure the signal can reach them.
The classroom has no longer got four walls.It has a radio, a television, a phone, a community and a country.
And beyond the classroom, the learning continues.
