Despite numerous criticisms that there is only a small number of students doing well, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand made it clear that although Guyana is faced with challenges it has been able to realise laudable results over the years.
And the challenges that Guyana has been faced with, the Minister asserted, are certainly not unique to Guyana.
“Every single country in the Caribbean has the same problems we have; every single country has problems getting large percentages in passes in Mathematics; every country does not do as well as they would like to do in English. Every country has problems attracting students to the Science field; every single country has some of the literacy problems we have,” said Minister Manickchand.
“We do hear critics who may be myopic and narrow in vision talking about our problems and we should never mask our problems. Many of our challenges that you hear, you hear first from us. You hear when we are unhappy with certain things in certain areas; you hear what we will do to fix those, to overcome those weaknesses…”
But the Minister noted that while the challenges may be universal, Guyana is able to stand out simply because “every country is not bringing home the kind of results that Guyana is bringing home. So that makes us stand tall in this Region and indeed the entire world…
“Even as we have the same problems our students are excelling; we have to be doing something right,” boasted the Education Minister.
The Minister, who was alluding to the top performers produced by the country, was at the time speaking at her Ministry’s National Awards Ceremony on Thursday last.
And the results obtained, according to her, could not have been possible without a collaborative effort. She highlighted not only the role of students and their parents but that of the teachers and Government which, according to her, “has a strong focus on education and how to make our people better…”
She said that because of Government’s many investments in education, schools that were doing well in the past are continuing to do well even as other schools “that were never heard of before” are joining the top performing institutions.
This, the Minister attributed to equity in the delivery of education across the country.
“When a service is given equitably all across this country, that is how you see children all over Guyana being able to strive and succeed and be the very best that they can be. We see how that has consistently produced results in our national and international exams.”
Guyana is, this year, able to celebrate four of its own who were able to perform exceptionally, not only at the national level, but also regionally. The Minister was at the time referring to the top performers of the 2014 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination who were also named among the top regional performers.
This year, the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) has awarded four of its eight top regional awards to Guyana. The top awards are Overall Outstanding Achievement, copped by Elisa Hamilton of Queen’s College; Most Outstanding in Humanities, Aliyyah Abdul Kadir of Queen’s College; Most Outstanding in Business Studies, Ryhan Chand also of Queen’s College; and Most Outstanding in Technical Vocational, Kishan Critchlow of New Amsterdam Multilateral School.
According to Minister Manickchand, Guyana has been able to top the Caribbean every year since 2006 with the exception of 2010.
CXC will on December 4, 2014, present the 2014 outstanding students with their awards at a ceremony to be held at the University of the West Indies Regional Headquarters, Mona Campus, Jamaica.
Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/11/04/guyanas-achievements-linked-to-equity-in-education/