-agreement sealed on placement for One-Mile Primary students for September 3 school opening
EDUCATION Minister, Priya Manickchand yesterday paid a visit to Linden in Region Ten (Upper Demerara/Upper Berbice) where she met with education stakeholders, parents and other concerned residents of the community at the Wismar Hill Primary School, as they enjoyed a fruitful interaction on the placements and other issues in relation to the children of One-Mile Primary School that was gutted by fire two Sundays ago. The meeting attracted about 400 people and the minister was accompanied by senior educational officials from Georgetown who met their counterparts from the Regional Education Office.

Ms. Manickchand made it clear that the Government of Guyana is committed to rebuilding the infrastructure that was damaged in the community including the One-Mile Primary School. She however told those gathered that the main focus of the Education Ministry and by extension the Government of Guyana is the placing of all 847 students from the burnt out school into classes on the first day of school which is just two weeks from now.
She said that the residents had to choose if they were going to allow the situation to damage their children or rise up and ensure that they work to prevent any of the children who attended the school not to be disadvantaged by the unfortunate situation. 

She said her visit was to put to them the arrangements that have been floating around between her, and education officials from the ministry and the region.
The Education Minister added that the parents and teachers had a right to say what they were comfortable with and what needs to be adjusted.
They were however cautioned that while the aim of the ministry is to ensure that there is comfort for the children come September 3 and beyond, it must not be forgotten that there will be some amount of discomfort and uneasiness because of the arrangements. It was with that, that the minister asked the parents and teachers to be reasonable in their bargaining and requests.
She said that it was important for the residents to look forward and develop the best plan for the children of the community especially those of the burnt out school, she called for all to be involved and at every level.

In pointing out the importance of finding places for the children to start school on 3 September, the Education Minister reminded parents that the only way their children will have a better life and opportunities that were not available to their parents is through having an education and their chances for that opportunity must not be damaged the minister added.

She said that placements for the students was of utmost importance at this time for two reasons, she mentioned the limited time that remains available for the educators and teachers to agree on everything since school reopens on the 03 of September. The other reason she give was the fact that a school was destroyed and it will take a while before there is some amount of normalcy that will start to flow as children and teachers will have to adjust to new conditions under which they will have to operate.
Last week the Ministry of Education and the Regional Education Department of Region Ten were in much discussion and planning on how, where and by when they will be able to place children in time for the reopening of school. The discussions also involved the Regional Chairman and the region’s Member of Parliament all of whom seemed to have a vested interest in ensuring that all students of the region especially the Linden community was ready for school when it reopens.

It was announced that based on the discussion between the officials of the education ministry and regional education authorities in Linden several students from several grades will be strategically place come September 03.
A total of one hundred and fifty students representing six grade one classes will be placed at the One-Mile Nursery School new extension. That extension is located in the compound of the burnt out school which also had a nursery school. It was related that the location that the students will be occupying was initially built because the department of education expected an increase in the number of nursery students from the new school term.
The Grade two students will also be occupying the very building. The grade two has a total of five classes and account for a total of one hundred and thirty five children. It was related to the parents that the new arrangement will force the department to facilitate a double session with the younger one in grade one showing up for school in the morning at 7.30 to 11.30 while the older one in grade two will show up for classes in the afternoon from 12 to 4 pm.

The arrangement was well received by the parents and teachers but not before the clearing up of some misconceptions. The minister made it clear to the parents that while the arrangement of a double session was not a preference it was the best that could have been done at time.
The minister told the parents that she is aware that they will be wondering what their children will be doing for the period that they will be home which will account for almost an entire half day. She added that she is also aware that the double sessions will take away from the instruction time in the class rooms since students and teachers will be spending less time together.

It was there that the parents were told that the Education Department in the region along with the Ministry of Education were trying to secure the service of a church that had a building which could be used for hosting some of the classes. It was announced that should the church be in a position to accommodate the students then the double sessions will not be necessary since with the church and  several other buildings that will be made available, students will be able to attend school for entire five hours as is customary.

The Wismar Hill Primary School where the meeting was held will be accommodating grades three, four and five which represent twelve classes and a student population of four hundred and twenty one. This school was made available the very afternoon of the morning that the Wismar One- Mile Primary school was gutted. The students will occupy the auditorium of the school as well as two other classes.
Meanwhile grade six students will be housed at the Block 22 Community Multi- purpose Centre. The grade six comprises of four classes and represents a student population of one hundred and forty two students. The grade six students will not be having a double session and are going to be housed in a building alone. That move is being commended since those children will be preparing to write the National Grade Six Assessment examination next year and placing them in an environment that sees them having less classroom time among other things would not have been helpful to them at the examination, one resident said.

Parents and teachers were given the opportunity to respond to the arrangements and all were well received. Some even asked about transportation for their children from the long distances to the school that they were placed and that was given a thought and will be finalised soon, as one resident has already indicated that she was willing to have her minibus available at cost once the PTA or the department of education secure a driver.

The students though they will be accommodated at other schools will not have to have a change of uniform the ministry confirmed. With the exception of the Wismar Hill Primary School, all other schools and facilities which will accommodate the displaced students are situated in close proximity to where the One-Mile Primary School stood.

At some of the facilities there will be additional sanitary blocks that will be included while better security and securing of other buildings are on the cards for some of the other facilities and which will be worked out and finalized before school is opened on September 3.

Following the scheduled meeting at the Wismar Hill School, Ms. Manickchand met with teachers and later travelled to the burnt out site of the One-Mile Primary School. Other senior education officials also paid visits to other locations that children are expected to be placed come September 03, 2012.

Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/08/21/manickchand-well-received-during-linden-visit

–    Propose alternative venues

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand along with senior officials of the Ministry of Education and regional officials yesterday met with teachers and parents of One Mile Primary School in Wismar, to recommend and discuss alternative accommodation arrangements for the students of that school who have been displaced, due to its recent destruction by fire.
Chairman of the proceedings, Pastor Selwyn Sills, in his opening remarks regarding the recent torching of the school, posited that what was set out to be a stumbling block, is instead going to be a

stepping stone.
Minister Manickchand said that she was ‘glad’ to be in Linden, though not glad about the reason for the visit. In her brief comments before outlining alternative ‘housing’ arrangements for the students, she declared that the children of One Mile Primary School “would  not be disadvantaged, as the only way that children can have a future and better life, is through education”.

The first proposal put forward by the Minister was for the pupils of grade one, who number about 150, to be accommodated at the One Mile Nursery School extension block. It was further suggested that those pupils, attend classes from 7:30 to 11:30 am, while classes  for  those pupils in Grade two would be held from 12:00 hrs to 16:00hrs.
On the other hand it was proposed that the students of grades three, four and five, numbering some four hundred and twenty-one, be housed at Wismar Hill Primary, while the pupils of grade six should be accommodated at the Block 22 Community  Centre.

Concern was raised by one parent, about the capacity of the extension block of the One Mile Nursery school, to house the grades one and two students, even on a shift system. It was then suggested by another parent that the entire school could be occupied by the One Mile  Primary pupils after the Nursery School pupils are dismissed at 12:00 hrs.
That suggestion found favour with most of the teachers and parents.
It was also proposed that St Aidan’s Primary School be used as another venue to house the displaced students, but this proposal was rejected outright.

Meanwhile, concerns about the capacity of the Wismar Hill Primary to house grades three, four and five were raised.
The Headmistress of One Mile Primary, Stephanie St Claire, while voicing concerns about the pupils of her school being housed in separate locations, where they would not be under her watch, acknowledged that some amount of discomfort has to be endured now, for betterment later.
St Claire in her closing remarks quipped, ‘’remember, we are not at home!”
Pastor Sills, meanwhile, encouraged the gathering of concerned parents and teachers that they should consider the options that were outlined, and anything that they would have agreed to they should not ‘renege’ on later on.
Sills also suggested the setting up of a few pre-fabricated buildings, to house the students.

As it relates to using St Aidan’s Primary as one of the alternative venues, it was suggested by a teacher that school buses could be used to transport the children, as many parents complained about the distance to the school, and the desolate areas that their children would have to ‘navigate’ to get to the institution. The issue of parents not being able to afford taxis to transport their children to and from the school was also highlighted.
On the question of Government’s contribution towards the rebuilding of One Mile Primary, Minister Manickchand said that there had not yet been talks in this regard, but that she was going to pursue the topic.

Regional Chairman Sharma Solomon, who was also present, pointed out that it was important that the presently displaced students “do not miss one day” of their education.
“We may not have the ideal conditions and situation that we look forward to, but at the end of the day, the onus is on us to work collectively to provide the opportunities for these children,” he emphasised.
Solomon described the meeting as part of a consultative process, as what is most important is for the parents, teachers and participants to sit, discuss and have an understanding of what is being provided for the children.
He added that the only area that was not finalized was “having the acknowledgement of the church” which was expected to be done later yesterday.
A confirmation from the church, concerning usage of the building, would minimize or eliminate the need for double sessions, Solomon pointed out.

Source: (Enid Joaquin); https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/08/21/minister-senior-education-officials-meet-parents-teachers-of-burnt-out-school/

There is an urgent need to directly confront the abysmal results that have been obtained this year at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination.
This conviction was expressed by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Thursday even as she noted that “…we need to be somewhere close to despair when we look at some of the results in the core areas, which means that our children are not matriculating… which means they are going to have a lot of doors closed to them.”

The Minister related that education ministers and officers, the Region over, should not be hesitant to disclose the reality of the sector “if those realities signal crisis” simply because they fear placing into the hands of the opposition parties in the respective countries, a weapon with which the government of the day can be beaten.As such, she amplified that there is an urgent need for the Region to stop lamenting over the results and start tangibly doing something to address the situation.
The Minister was at the time delivering remarks at the International Conference Centre where the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) held the official launching of the 2012 CSEC and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) results.
“We must frontally accept and pronounce on the horror that has been our Mathematics and English grades for almost all our history,” Manickchand insisted, while noting that it is imperative that all citizens must recognise the glaring problem and become conscientiously engaged in solutions.

“The education of our boys and girls should never be politicised. Bad results must be bemoaned by all, and good results and the efforts to get there promoted, owned and celebrated by all.”
She asserted that Guyana welcomes an initiative being proposed by the CXC to establish an Expert Working Group on teaching and learning Mathematics and English. In fact, she said, the local education sector is looking forward to the historical performance review; reviews of the syllabuses and pedagogies; noting and adoption of international best practices – all with a view to coming up with a regional plan of action.

“We urge that this working group be established and begin its work with haste. We have noted locally that our Mathematics and English grades are poor. We refuse to accept that this is the best that our children can do.”
The Minister emphasised that it was against this background that her Ministry had engaged an initiative of its own, ahead of the CSEC examination, to help improve its results.  Though short-term, the initiative yielded marked improvements among 26 pilot schools, whose performances were better than that obtained Caribbean-wide, as well as the national average.

“The results were extremely encouraging…The Caribbean has a pass mark in 2012 of 33 per cent in Mathematics and Guyana has a pass mark of 29.69 per cent in Mathematics and the pilot schools have a pass mark of 39.85 per cent…”
She revealed that in the subject area of English, which saw alarming results this year, 52.05 per cent of the students in the pilot schools passed with grades one through three. Nationally, a mere 37 per cent of students passed this subject with similar grades, while regionally, there was a 47 per cent pass rate.
“The pilot schools, in the face of our country and the Region doing worse than last year, did better…We believe that we have started something that can only get better,” Manickchand stressed.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/08/18/education-should-not-be-politicised-minister-manickchand/

In response to our editorial “Education Hypocrisy”, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Mr. Olato Sam, found it necessary to respond with a claim that the said editorial was “highly insulting and fraught with inaccuracies.” We believe that Mr. Sam is being more than a tad defensive and certainly ‘protesteth too much.”
But since we believe that a very important issue is at stake here – the education of our future, our youth, we will examine Mr. Sam’s claims.

The CEO claims our editorial “suggests” that the “(Education) Ministry conspired to dupe the public in the dissemination of this year’s CSEC results” and that this “is untrue and highly disrespectful.”  What we actually said was, “The Ministry of Education (MoE) felt it necessary to ask the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to release the names of those students who passed more than eight subjects with Grade One. From the approximately 13,000 that sat the last CSEC exams, 175 names were submitted. This is a shame and a disgrace from several angles. Firstly why does the Ministry continue with this farce of focusing only on the one percent “high flyers” that would do well in any random sample? Do they want to take the credit for their success? We’re sure they do. Has the Ministry taken note that every one of the ‘high flyers’ from Queen’s College – the premier school in the country , collecting the top 1% from the 6th Grades – mentioned that they had to resort to ‘outside lessons?”

Mr. Sam did not deny that the MoE made the above request but proffered two reasons for its deployment.  Firstly that, “one has to accept, whether we agree or not, that the nation has grown used to the practice of recognizing the “high flyers”. So the Ministry in charge of the nation’s education just goes with the flow? This betrays a sad lack of leadership. Secondly, the CEO says, “these students do deserve praise for their hard work and above average achievements.” Of course they do – but why ask for their results ahead of the other 13,500 students who took the exams? Wouldn’t they be “praised” then? Call us “cynical” but not ‘insulting” when we conclude the MoE wanted to mask the overall atrocious results, unlike what occurred in Jamaica.

The CEO also took exception to our claim that eight subject passes were “the Ministry’s cut-off criterion for what is a ‘good’ result”. He indignantly pointed out that the Ministry had always emphasised that passes in five subjects was the ‘matriculation’ requirement. That may be so; but why did not the MoE, if it just had to innocently get a peek at the results, ask for passes at five or more subjects?

Making a very cavilling complaint, the CEO says we implied in the above quote that the 1% of high flyers at CSEC mentioned above were the same as the 1% of high flyers at the Grade Six assessments that ended up at Queen’s. As an English ‘comprehension’ exercise, we think it is clear we were referring to 1% of two distinct and separate aggregates. But the point about some CSEC high flyers coming from outside the ‘elite’ schools should remind the CEO of the MoE’s stated but evidently abandoned goal of doing away with such schools.
In response to our recommendation in light of Saraswati Vidya Niketan’s success (91% passes in Maths and English) because of extra tuition on the school’s premises by teachers at no extra cost, the CEO claims that “the Ministry of Education has never prohibited” such an approach.

Never prohibited? What about recommending and facilitating this approach? We recommend to him and the MoE the move by the Jamaican MoE, after digesting their CSEC results that were better than ours, to enact legislation towards this end.

The demonstrated success of the MoE’s  ‘pilot school’ project to improve performance in Mathematics and English, which includes extra tuition as a component, should suggest to the CEO that he should be less defensive and more proactive. We remind him that respect is earned not demanded.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/08/17/education-defensiveness/

THE Ministry of Education collaborated with the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) yesterday morning to hold the official launch of the May/June 2012 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Exams (CAPE) results at the Guyana National Conference Centre at Liliendaal, Greater Georgetown. Dr. Gordon Harewood, Senior Assistant Registrar of the Examinations Development and Production Division of the CXC noted that this year saw an overall decline in the number of grades one to three passes at the CSEC examinations.

Nevertheless, he said that the CXC is very pleased with this year’s regional performance at the CSEC.
One hundred and fifty-six thousand, nine hundred and sixty-eight (156,968) candidates registered for CSEC examinations this year, compared with 153,120 in 2011; and 35 subjects were offered.
According to Dr. Harewood, 57,000 private candidates registered for the examination this year. There was an increase in the number of subject entries, as this year there were 637,510 subject entries as opposed to 621,095 in 2011.
Dr. Harewood said there was a significant decline in the number of candidates securing grades one to three (1-3) passes in English Language (47%). This, he noted, is as a result of the challenges the candidates faced in the Summary Writing and Comprehension sections of the paper. According to him, for the Comprehension section of the paper, the questions which required a little more critical thinking proved more of a challenge to the candidates.
He said the English Language paper consisted of two profiles – understanding and expression – and the candidates performed better. The candidates’ understanding of the language was better than their expression, Dr. Harewood noted.

He said that while he is concerned about the results of this subject this year, he is not in a state of despair, because the students of the Caribbean need to read more.
Harewood also noted a slight decline in the performance of the candidates in the English Literature examination. Sixty-eight percent of the entries achieved grades one to three (1-3) this year, as opposed to 71% in 2011. This was attributed to the students’ shortcomings in the Poetry section of the paper, and Harewood said he is not happy aboutthis.

Thirty-three percent of the entries for Mathematics this year achieved grades 1 to 3, compared to 35% last year. Dr. Harewood noted that concepts that should have been mastered at the lower level, such as perimeter and range, posed challenges to the students. Additional Mathematics was offered for the first time this year, and fifty-eight percent of the entries for this subject secured acceptable grades.

Dr. Harewood acknowledged the prevalence of plagiarism in the School Based Assessments (SBAs), and urged that teachers “nip it in the bud”.
The greatest number of CSEC subjects written this year was 17, and the age range of candidates was 12-72 years.
Two 12-year-olds achieved a grade one in Mathematics, and one achieved a grade one in Agricultural Science.
This year, there were 28,043 candidate entries and 110,057 subject entries for the CAPE. According to Dr. Harewood, 46 units were offered at the exam.

Mrs. Susan Giles, Senior Assistant Registrar, Examinations Administration and Security Division, noted that there were 9300 private candidates registered for this year’s exam regionally.
She said that Guyana was the country with the second highest increase in the number of candidates sitting the exam (from 627 in 2011 to 741 in 2012), with females dominating the examination.
Mrs. Giles noted a slight decrease in the number of candidates failing to submit their SBAs, and that none of the schools in Guyana had any outstanding SBA.

Dr. Harewood noted that grades 1-5 are acceptable at the CAPE level, and that “you expect the students to do well at CAPE if they have done well at CSEC.” He said the performance of students at this examination has been stable over the years.
He noted that the performance in Caribbean Studies was good, and that there was an improved performance in Communication Studies. According to him, there was a distinct improvement in Biology Unit 1, and a stable performance in Unit 2.
Speaking about CAPE law, he thanked all the lawyers who took time out from their busy schedules to administer their knowledge.

The 2-unit subjects — Entrepreneurship education; Food, Agriculture and the Environment; Performing Arts and Recreation; and Tourism Management will be examined for the first time in 2014.
The top students for the region at this year’s CAPE and CSEC exams will receive full scholarships to the University of the West Indies.

The CXC Registrar, Dr. Didacus Jules, handed over the official copy of Guyana’s CSEC and CAPE results to Minister of Education Priya Manickchand.
Also in attendance were Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony; Minister within the Finance Ministry, Bishop Juan Edghill; and several of Guyana’s top CSEC performers.’

Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2012/08/17/cxc-officially-hands-over-cape-csec-results-to-education-minister

AS A result of the general decline in overall performance at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), Registrar of the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC), Dr. Didacus Jules outlined some steps that should be undertaken to improve performance in the future. 

At the official launch of the May/June 2012 results at the Guyana National Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Jules stated that the first step is to have less lamentation and more decisive action. He stated that blaming teachers, ministers or whoever is not going to change anything. Rather, we need to buckle down and do the things that need to be done.”
Speaking about the new technological age, he said: “We are at a historical juncture, not just in the Caribbean but worldwide, where education needs to be redefined. The old paradigms can no longer work.”
He believes that the education system should be changed to meet these new demands since children of the digital era tend to get bored with the plain “chalk and talk.” CXC is trying to meet these demands with the introduction of a digital media CAPE subject, which will include gaming and developing mobile and tablet applications.
According to Jules, like an eco system; the education system is interdependent and inter-related. “We cannot expect that students will perform at university if they do not perform at the secondary level. We cannot expect good performance at secondary level if primary level, which is the level that contributes to secondary, is weak. We cannot expect them to do good at the primary level, if early childhood is non-existent,” he said.

Jules further stated that we need to understand that there are no quick fixes for the problem. However, he believes that there are short term solutions such as investing in secondary education by providing schools with some of the core materials that they need.
The Council is also looking at what they can do about teaching, even though it is not really their responsibility as an examinations body. The Registrar revealed that every year on their website there is an assessment on students’ performance in every subject area.

“We sit on a wealth of information that can help teachers to hone their skills better, to focus more effectively on core areas and on areas of deficiency,” Jules said.
He noted that one major misconception in education today is that some students are not “academically minded”. According to Jules, there is no such thing; every student is capable of learning.
“The problem is not the student. The problem is what are the pedagogies and their approaches that would make it possible for that student to learn,” he said.

He believes that one simple solution to this problem is to make learning fun.
In addition, as an immediate measure, CXC is setting up an expert working group on the teaching and learning of Mathematics and English in the Caribbean. The group will be looking at the history of performances from more than ten years back and looking to see what concepts students are having problems with.
The syllabus itself will also be re-examined.

The Council is also working to make online learning possible. Therefore, if a child is home sick they can still keep up with their school work. Jules advised that from September this year, they will have the capability where a teacher can teach a class virtually from home.
Additionally, with the free interactive online portal www.notesmaster.com, the possibility of forming learning groups is easier.

CXC is also hoping to create, from September, a virtual subject association, with Mathematics and English teachers from across the entire Caribbean, curriculum officers in Maths and English, and also university lecturers of those subjects.
Meanwhile, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand stated that Guyana welcomes the initiative of establishing an expert working group of teaching and learning of Mathematics and English, urging the group to begin its work with haste.
She noted that the Ministry of Education started its Maths/English pilot programme in January, 2012, which saw the ministry loaning text books, study guides and past exam papers among other materials to students from selected schools.

Ms. Manickchand reported that these pilot schools on average did better than the Caribbean and better than the national average in Maths and English. In Mathematics for 2012, the Caribbean has a pass mark of 33% while Guyana has a pass mark of 29.69% and the pilot schools have a pass mark of 39.85%. In English, the Caribbean has a pass mark of 47% while Guyana and the pilot schools have pass marks of 37% and 52.05% respectively.

Manickchand remarked: “We stand ready to further investigate how is it we can do better in all of our schools. We shall note the lessons we learnt through this programme, we are seeking to determine how best we can expand and serve our children. We stand ready to share our experience with our sister nations in the Caribbean as we are eager to learn from their experiences, together as one family of countries with one voice and its one people…”
She also took the time out to congratulate all the top CSEC performers of Guyana, noting that the top students came from all over Guyana and also from public and private schools.

There has been a significant decline in the performance of CSEC students around the region this year in English A, with 47% achieving grades 1-3, while only a few candidates were able to score full marks on each Math paper.

This was disclosed yesterday at the Guyana International Conference Centre at Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara,  when representatives of the Caribbean Examinations Council visited to officially release the region-wide results which has been done for the first time in Guyana.

Presenting the results was Dr. Gordon Harewood, Senior Assistant Registrar, Examinations Development and Production Division, who said that summary writing in English remains a challenge while performance on the Understanding profile proved to be significantly better than on expression.

In the area of Mathematics, he said that some of the content that should have been mastered at the lower secondary level is still challenging students at CSEC level. He recommended that students preparing to sit Pure Math at CAPE  first complete the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) which he said would provide a solid foundation to address observed weaknesses in both English A and Math.

“CCSLC spent a lot of time trying to ensure that students master those fundamental competencies and skills that they should acquire in order to go on to higher classes at the secondary level,” Harewood explained.

Additional Math, he continued, started this year with very small entries but very commendable performances. It was noted that 58% of candidates secured grades 1-3.

“We are really encouraging all of our candidates who intend to go on to do Pure Math at CAPE to take up Additional Math. There have been complaints that students who write Pure Math do so with some gaps that still need to be remedied so this syllabus was constructed specifically with that in mind and it does provide a great platform for success at Pure Math,” Harewood explained.

There was a  decline of 3% in the percentage of candidates who scored grades 1-3 at the English B exams with the most evident decline on the Poetry profile.

As it relates to Information Technology, there was an improved performance as compared to 2010 with over 80% acquiring grades 1-3. However, it was noted that a number of candidates demonstrated poor examination strategies such as rewriting the question which is  considered irrelevant.

At CSEC Physics, there were topics that related to modern physics and it was found that while some candidates performed exceptionally well, many did very poorly.

In the Agricultural Science exam, there was an 80% achievement of grades 1-3 regionally. In Technical Drawing, he continued, performance was good although it declined in comparison to previous years.With regards to CSEC Caribbean History, he said that there were challenges in the requirement of extended essays, which saw forms of plagiarism. Teachers were urged to monitor and reject plagiarism to avoid it   reaching the level of CXC.

Basic areas that would require attention, he said, with simple parts like presentation, line work, labelling diagrams, etc, were ignored.

12-year-olds

Highlighted was the achievement of two 12-year-olds who secured grade 1 in Mathematics and another 12-year-old who scored a grade 1 in Agricultural Science.

There was much improvement at CAPE this year, with better performances at Communication Studies and Pure Math.

Meanwhile Unit 1 Biology has also seen a distinct improvement in performance at CAPE while Unit 2 is “as solid as a rock, stable.” ]

CAPE Law too has been a challenge across the region since qualified persons to teach this subject are lacking, Harewood stated. Also, in Management of Business, there has been an improvement in performance on Unit 1 and a steady performance in Unit 2.

And in Sociology, there has been a slight decline in the performance at Unit 2 with an increased number of candidates.

He also touched briefly on results of the CCSLC exam, noting that there has been 85.8% acceptable grades in English, 73.7% in Mathematics, 81.5% in Social Studies, 84.3% in Integrated Science, 73.0% in French and 68.4% in Spanish.

Addressing the forum also was CXC Registrar, Dr. Didacus Jules, who emphasized that in order for there to be steady improvement, there must be less lamentation and more decisive action.

It was noted that an entire system reform is needed which is aligned to the challenges as well as the opportunities in a very dynamic global environment.

Academically minded

“There is no such thing in education. Every student is capable of learning. It is we who are not capable of teaching. So the problem is not the student… the problem is the approaches that would make it possible for the student to learn… it is one simple objective that we must set in this region; make learning fun. If we make learning fun, all these problems we face will disappear,” he opined.

The CXC Registrar also pointed out that there are broader issues that must not be forgotten and which are putting the education system under great pressure.

“I see more and more our teachers under pressure because parents are not playing their role… we all have our role to play in this enterprise. What we must recognize is that education is under great strain and it does not need people to stand on the outside, we need people who are prepared to put their shoulder behind the wheels… whether you are a parent, an employer, whatever you are, a clergy person, you have a role to play. We need to take some of the strain off of the teachers. Teachers are not responsible for teaching good manners in school.

A parent is supposed to do that and teachers should reinforce it,” Jules explained.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand in her address said that Guyana is celebrating the fact that we have moved away from a period when all the top students matriculated from Queen’s College.

“We are now able to celebrate all of Guyana when we celebrate our top students,” she said, making reference to Guyana’s top CSEC student, Sarah Hack of Abram’s Zuil Secondary on the Essequibo Coast.

“I am not a pessimist but I do wish to confront the dismal results we have seen… I think we need to be somewhere close to despair  when we look at the results in the core areas which tells us that our children are going to have a lot of doors closed to them,” Manickchand said.

She too agreed that there is a need to stop lamenting and instead to start tangibly doing something about improving the performances.

“We must firstly accept and pronounce the horror that has been our English and Mathematics grades for almost all of our history… All our citizens must understand this to be a problem and all must be consciously engaged in the solution,” she noted.

Manickchand urged education ministers and education officers in the region to never be hesitant to disclose the reality of the sector.

“Those realities should not be discredited simply because they fear criticism in the hands of the opposition parties in their respective countries; a weapon with which the government of the day could be beaten. The education of our boys and girls should never be politicized,” she posited.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/news/guyana/08/17/significant-regional-decline-seen-in-csec-performance/

–    offended by Minister’s school arson statement
“We came here today because the Minister of Education, in the wake of the arson that was carried out on a school in Linden, promptly pointed fingers at the Linden protesters, when in fact the people of Linden were the ones who arrested the alleged arsonists and turned them over to the police,” said Working People’s Alliance (WPA) executive David Hinds yesterday while explaining the reason that demonstrators mounted a protest at the office of the Education Minister.
The Protest was supported by Red Thread, social activists and politicians.

Recently, Linden suffered the fiery destruction of one of its schools. On the day of the incident, Education Minister Priya Manickchand issued a statement denouncing the act and the demonstrators yesterday asserted that she essentially blamed it on the Linden protesters.
“A section of her statement read ‘no person in their right mind can argue that to burn bridges, block roads and burn a school constitute peaceful protest’. Is that not blaming the protesters?”
Social activist Frederick Kissoon said that the Minister of Education has “unapologetically and shamefully attributed the burning of the One Mile Primary school to the protesters”.

“We have rejected that, and we are asking for her to provide the evidence that the protesters have done that,” Kissoon stated emphatically.
He added: “We believe that Minister Manickchand has now taken the lead in the sordid defence of the government’s brutality and authoritarian handling of the Linden protest and we need to expose her.”
Kissoon also opined that Manickchand has taken on a “vulgar defence” of Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee in parliament.

This is following the no confidence motion filed against the Minister by the joint opposition following the fatal shooting of three protesters in Linden.
David Hinds said that “Minister Manickchand has to realize that as Education Minister, she is custodian of one of the most important sectors in any society and we feel that she should not get herself embroiled in this kind of political controversy”.
“She needs to decide if she wants to play dirty politics or if she wants to pay attention to the Education sector in this country which she herself said needs badly repairing. We want to warn her that if she continues down the road she is going, she is going to suffer the same fate (no confidence motion) as Mr. Rohee. We are going to lobby our parliamentarians. To go about the place accusing those people of arson is really a slap in the face for Linden,” Hinds stated firmly.

“Minister Manickchand should be visiting Linden to make sure that those who will be turning out to school in a couple of weeks are prepared to do that.”
Asked whether he sees it possible for schools to reopen in the community come September, Hinds said “we are pushing for that, education is an absolute necessity.”
Michael Carrington expressed concern that “so many Lindeners were arrested following various acts while no-one up to today has been arrested for the murder of those three men”.
“Someone took the lives of those children’s father and today he walks free while people were arrested for arson and protesting.”

Dear Editor,

The Kaieteur News editorial entitled ‘Hypocrisy in Education‘ (August 12), is highly insulting and fraught with inaccuracies.  Unquestionably, the information provided for the media in 2012 was far more comprehensive than in previous years.  Each year, there are extensive discussions regarding what should be released and the structure of same.

These discussions/debates within the ministry, ultimately lead to the acceptance of the need to recognize the hard work of those high achievers, regardless of where they come from, while still giving value to the efforts all of our students and teachers throughout the system.

This point was further reinforced at the press conference held.  To suggest, as this editorial does, that officers of this ministry conspired to dupe the public in the dissemination of this year’s CSEC results is untrue and highly disrespectful.

Clearly, one has to accept, whether we agree or not, that the nation has grown used to the practice of recognizing the ‘high flyers.’ Even further, these students do deserve praise for their hard work and above average achievements—many in the face of extremely difficult circumstances.

That was the extent of the exercise of naming 40 of these 175 exceptional students.  What should be noted, however, is that if the editor had properly evaluated the list he alludes to, he would have seen that these students are now emerging from institutions spread all across the nation and not all from Queens College as he stated.  So the “premier school in the country, collecting the top 1% from the 6th Grades” did not produce the 175 top students at CSEC as was clearly implied.  Students and teachers from Abram’s Zuil, Cotton Field and Anna Regina Secondary, West Demerara, Stewartville and Zeeburg Secondary, Annandale and Hope Secondary, Berbice High and New Amsterdam Multilateral, Skeldon Line Path, Tagore Memorial, Corentyne Comprehensive and JC Chandisingh Secondary, Mackenzie High, Central and North Georgetown Secondary have every reason to be proud of their accomplishments.

To add insult to injury, the editorial goes on to state that the eight or more Grade Ones is what the ministry deems a “good” result and as such 99% of this year’s cohort did not make the ministry’s “cut-off criterion.” For years, as former Minister Baksh repeatedly declared, and the current Minister reinforced at several public engagements reported on by Kaieteur News, the ministry has been emphasizing that the matriculation requirements of five subjects including English and Mathematics are our clear focus.  Unfortunately, given the limited time between the release of the information to the Ministry of Education and its public online dissemination, which occurred later the day of the press conference, the computation of this data was not possible.

This too was pointed out at the press conference.

On another point of note, the Ministry of Education has never prohibited “extra tuition on the school premises at no extra cost to the students.” We maintain that students should not pay for lessons conducted in public schools. Even further, we have, as all other territories in the region, recognized that this year’s performance has deep implications for our approach towards the preparation of our students.  As such, an extensive analysis of this year’s performance is ongoing with emphasis on expanding the areas which have delivered encouraging results and correcting the deficiencies.  No mention was made in this editorial of the dimensions of this year’s performance that are highly encouraging, suggesting that there was no interest in presenting a balanced position in relation to our students’ performance.  The Stabroek News editorial on Monday, August 13, reflects the quality of journalism one expects from a premier publishing outfit and raises pertinent questions which will be effectively answered over the course of this evaluative exercise.  As such, I agree with the KN editor that “we will all have to take a deep breath and quit with the gamesmanship.” The ministry remains receptive to all constructive engagements regarding improving our students’ performance and will continue to work assiduously to that end.  The nation deserves better!

Yours faithfully,
Olato Sam
Chief Education Officer
Ministry of Education

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2012/opinion/letters/08/15/the-matriculation-requirement-of-five-subjects-including-english-and-mathematics-is-the-ministry-of-educations-clear-focus/

The recent results of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations have given us cause for retrospection and what we are seeing only leaves us more depressed than the previous year. For starters, we continue to experience horrendous performances in Mathematics and English—the language we are supposed to be speaking at the drop of a hat.

Indeed this situation is not unique to Guyana. Minister Priya Manickchand in a statement noted that this trend is extended across the region. Some states in the United States are also grappling with this problem.
Some have devised strategies that seem to be working. They are focusing on the discipline of the teachers. They go further. They publish a list of the poor performing schools alongside those that have improved. This is an annual thing so that parents and other observers could determine what is best for their children. The conclusion is that people make the system work.

Guyana should do the same. But there is more. If it rains ever so slightly teachers stay at home, then walk into the school the next day without even a “sorry I was absent.” The heads allow this to happen. There are no sanctions for absence and lateness.
We have had a look at some other systems that have guaranteed a turnaround in their academic performances. In one education district every teacher has a key to his or her classroom. In short, every form is headed by a teacher. If that teacher is absent then the classroom is closed. Surely this will not escape notice.
In one city school, a head spends a lot of time tracking down teachers who prefer to lounge in the staff room even as they have classes to supervise. However, that head is not supported by the administration of the Education Ministry. When she reports these teachers since she does not have the power to suspend, these teachers invoke friendship with people in the administration and escape punishment.

This poor attitude is common in the wider society and has led to massive garbage piles in various parts of the city, not least among them the compound of the High Court. In which other country can people remove the decorative rails around the court with impunity?
The situation is allowed to continue because nobody is prepared to protect his area of work. A salary is received at the end of the month and that is all that is necessary.

Some of us become annoyed when the older people complain that the colonial days were better. We accuse these people of being steeped in the past, of being foreign-minded. What we do not consider is the fact that the colonials had systems that pushed us to the top of the literacy ladder in the region. There were school inspectors, incentives for good performance and rigid discipline. We have taken control of our systems with disastrous results.
Teachers are not allowed to discipline children; parents are allowed to walk into schools and assault teachers who have decided that coupled with their penchant for not working, they are going to opt for self-preservation.
Fortunately, there are magistrates who impose some harsh sentences on parents who walk into schools as though they own the institution.

Former Education Minister Shaik Baksh, asked about the school inspectorate, said that they were few and that the batch could only visit a school every three years.
Today, there is one school less. The inspectors are in a position to breathe a sigh of relief, but the community of One Mile Wismar is angry. An idiot torched the building in which over 800 children tried to get an education. The idiot claimed that someone paid him $200,000 to conduct the dastardly act.
It is not enough that the community beat him before handing him over to the police. He is going to be granted bail and perhaps allowed to disappear.

It boggles the mind that this idiot could actually contemplate robbing children of an education. Guyana is in the doldrums when its people could destroy a school at a time when people are complaining about the education system.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2012/08/14/perpetrating-illiteracy/