With an instant reflection on the goals that were set by the Government for the Ministry of Education, former Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, assumed the role of Minister of Education earlier this month effectively replacing Shaik Baksh as the head of the Ministry.
Her vibrant strides have already started to impact on the new Ministry despite the fact that some may say she is not qualified as an educator. The qualified Attorney-at-law during a recent interview alluded to the notion that some persons seem to think she is not equipped for the task at hand but her unbridled ambition has seen her already making an enormous impact in the sector.
“I see that some people say that I am not qualified in education but the Minister is really a policy maker and a manager…so if you are a good policy maker or a good manager then you can really head up any ministry except for the very specialized ones maybe like Finance or the Attorney General,” she said.
Since taking up the new Ministerial post Manickchand has met with the staff of her Ministry and according to her “they are incredibility talented and skilled people who are very experienced in the field of education and I think together with the political will we have to change the landscape of our country using the tool of education…” And this process, according to the Minister has already begun with the full support of the expertise of the individuals within the sector. However, the renewed efforts that have been engaged are not limited to education officials and teachers as according to Manickchand “it involves listening to people because for me that is hugely important. It is not just what we want or what the experts believe should happen, but we have to take our policies on the ground and have people tell us how we can tweak these and see how it fits their lives and their children’s lives and in a way that would make sense.”
“I think we have the will in this governing party and that is reflected through me; we have the energy to do it and we want to do and I have skilled and talented staff who have been in this ministry for ages and we are going to be talking to people about the things we want to see happen.” In light of the supportive trend within the Ministry, Manickchand is confident that nothing will hinder reformation of the sector with a view of realizing improved performance, particularly in the subject areas of Mathematics and English. “I don’t see anything that we have set as unattainable at all,” the Minister confidently asserted.
Parents and students alike were among the target audience that Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has been reaching out to since she assumed office, even as she seeks to amplify the need for an urgent improvement in the Mathematics and English pass rate obtained countrywide. The Minister, backed by senior education officials, up to the end of the last school term was travelling the country to meet with stakeholders ahead of the commencement of a project aimed at improving the national pass rate in the target subject areas. The aim of this project is to prepare students for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination next year.
The programme, according to the Minister, represents an earnest collaboration between the government, teachers, parents and students to facilitate the much needed improvement in the subject areas at CSEC. Upon taking up the Education Minister portfolio Manickchand said that she immediately recognized that there was a noticeably low pass rate in the two target subject areas, with Mathematics being more alarming. In light of this she has introduced an aggressive strategy which will see students being furnished with the requisite resources to help bolster their performance. The Ministry has since committed to providing some 4,000 students, who will be a part of the pilot project, with CXC General Maths Book I and II, the Self-Study Guide for CXC, the collection of revision DVDs, the combined pass papers from 2008 to 2011, Model Solutions to difficult answers, Combined Solution for everything in addition to a geometry set and graph paper and a scientific calculator.
And in order to sensitise the relevant stakeholders about the ambitious initiative the Minister had personally raised awareness at a number of target schools which have been identified to pilot the project. Among the schools participating in the project are Abram Zuil, Anna Regina and Aurora (Region Two); West Demerara, Zeeburg, Patentia, Leonora, Stewartville (Region Three); Annandale, Coven Garden, Bladen Hall, Hope (Region Four); East Ruimveldt, Christ Church, North Georgetown, Central, Brickdam, North Ruimveldt, Richard Ishmael (Georgetown), Bushlot, Mahaicony, Bygeval, Woodly Park Primary Tops (Region Five); J. C. Chandisingh, Tagore Memorial, , New Amsterdam Multi, Berbice High, Skeldon LinePath (Region Six); Three Miles (Region Seven), St. Ignatius (Region Nine), McKenzie High, Christianburg and Silver City (Region 10).
Source:https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2011/12/31/manickchand-channels-unbridled-ambition-towards-improvement-of-education-sector/