Even as strategic efforts are being made to improve the delivery of education within the public education system, the Ministry of Education will this year direct focus to a number of areas. Some of these were highlighted Friday by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, when she convened her first press conference for 2015.
The forum which was held at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) saw the attendance of several top education officers as Minister Manickchand sought to outline the path her Ministry will be taking in the next few months.
She disclosed that among her Ministry’s plans is to ensure that all citizens of Guyana, regardless of age, race, creed, physical or mental disability, or socio-economic status, are given the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential through equal access to quality education as defined by the standards and norms outlined by the Ministry.
EDUCATION SECTOR PLAN
In speaking directly to moves to publish the Ministry’s Education Sector Plan, which is designed to guide the work of the Ministry over a five-year period (2014-2018), Manickchand said that the Plan is one that clearly emphasises a commitment to ensure quality and equity in education, with no barriers in access to anyone. The Education Sector Plan covers all levels of education except university. It consists of the detailed action plans of each unit or department that must take various actions in order to meet the targets of the Strategy.
Moreover, Minister Manickchand pointed out that the Plan is intended to continue focusing on improving the quality of education that was outlined in previous Plans, although it places much more emphasis on accountability by continuously monitoring results throughout the Plan’s period.
NEW ‘A’ LIST SCHOOL
And even as it makes efforts to improve its overall operation, aided by its Strategic Plan, Manickchand said that her Ministry will be witnessing progress as a country and particularly in the education sector, by declaring the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School an ‘A’ List School during the first quarter of this year.
She explained that while the institution started out as a ‘B’ List school, because of sustained excellent performances by its students at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination over a period of three consecutive years, it is now eligible to become a ‘A’ List school.
PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS
The Minister in her deliberations on Friday last, also offered an update on the Professional Standards for teachers which had long gained the attention of several education stakeholders.
As such Manickchand said that her Ministry will this year seek to establish a draft Professional Standards for teachers, which was discussed extensively countrywide with all key stakeholders. This process saw more than 55 consultations being held, where teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders were able to share their views on the contents of the document.
Manickchand announced that “the Ministry of Education is proud to report that the consultations were extremely useful in bringing us to the point where we are preparing to officially publish, sensitize and implement the Professional Standards for Teachers in a few weeks.”
TEXT BOOKS
Manickchand informed that the deliberate efforts to improve the education system will also include the provision of textbooks. According to her, “we continue to place a lot of emphasis on the equitable provision of learning resources to our students. Much effort has gone into creating and developing our own learning kits and packages and importantly, our own textbooks and workbooks.”
In 2013 and 2014, the Roriama Readers and Atlantic Readers series were developed and written. And according to Manickchand during this quarter of the year “we anticipate that we would be able to publish these books with their accompanying workbooks and that we would begin usage on a national scale in September 2015.” And the Ministry is certainly boasting about the fact that the materials were all developed by what the Minister has described as “a group of dedicated Guyanese educators.”
SECONDARY EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Meanwhile, with the commencement of its Secondary Education Improvement Project, the Ministry is poised to strengthen the capacity of secondary school Mathematics teachers nationwide, while at the same time increasing its enrolment in general secondary schools in targeted regions.
According to Minister Manickchand, it is expected that approximately 800 secondary level Mathematics teachers nationwide would be receiving in-service training although the direct Project beneficiaries would be the 2,600-odd students via new secondary school facilities each year in Regions Three and Four.
The Project is also structured to benefit students at eight schools, with a Technology-assisted Learning in Mathematics pilot, Manickchand said, as she informed that an additional feature will see the Ministry benefiting from improved capacity in Education Management and Information System (EMIS).
This project, according to her, will also be officially launched in the first quarter of this year.
NATIONAL REPORT CARD DAY AND PARENTS’ DAY
And in an effort to increase the information available to stakeholders, especially Parent-Teacher Associations and parents about the status of their schools and the status of individual children’s progress, the Ministry will be introducing a National Report Card Day and a monthly Parents’ Day.
This tactic is one that will serve to increase the lines of communication and collaboration between parent stakeholders and the schools, and by extension, the Ministry of Education.
According to Minister Manickchand, report cards offer insight into a child’s learning progress and also help parents ensure that their children are being challenged and assessed. She shared her conviction that Report Cards are known to help parents identify those areas where a child may need additional support, and went on to note that “a report card sets the stage for important discussions with teachers and the school about how to overcome challenges.”
Moreover, the Ministry will this year designate the last Thursday or second-to-last day of every school term as National Report Card Day, said Manickchand.
Further, the Ministry is also designating the fourth Thursday of every month as Parents’ Day at the Nursery Level and the second Thursday of every month as Parents’ Day at the Primary Level, the Minister added.
The necessary Circulars and Memos, she noted, will be sent out with details on these two initiatives as according to her, “the Ministry views these approaches as vital to the development of children and we encourage parents, guardians and teachers to work together to ensure that every child becomes the best that he or she can become. Together, we can move forward and take our children to a higher level.”
PORTUGUESE
And the Minister unveiled plans for the offering of Portugese by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). According to her, CXC is set to soon offer the relatively new subject area at the level of the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC). This subject, Manickchand disclosed, is slated to be written in nine territories for the first time in 2016.
Additionally, CXC will offer Portuguese as a subject at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) in 2017.
“You may recall that it was Guyana’s Ministry of Education that piloted Portuguese formally in the secondary schools’ curriculum. It was we here that developed Curriculum Guides, resource materials and trained our teachers to deliver this new but increasingly useful language,” the Education Minister recounted.
A team led by Minister Manickchand had had several meetings with the relevant authorities of CXC over the last year and made proposals for this subject to be included formally as a subject that is offered. And according to the Minister, “we are extremely pleased to say our efforts bore fruit and we are grateful to all the territories who supported our application and proposals to CXC.”
Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2015/01/18/new-a-list-school-among-education-ministrys-improvement-plans/