“Guyana’s education system is the best it has ever been” declared Education Minister Priya Manickchand with pride, noting that equitable access to education, improved results, an increased number of trained teachers and outstanding performance regionally are evidence of this achievement.
However, Manickchand believes that the education sector could achieve much more. As such, as the country celebrates these successes, efforts are being made to take Guyana and its students to the next level.

“We are nowhere near we want to be…We want to do better…We know we are capable of doing better, we know our kids are capable of producing better; our teachers can deliver a better curriculum,” she added.
According to the Minister, the Ministry has a responsibility to meet the needs of Guyana today, as well as preparing young people to meet the needs of Guyana tomorrow. Therefore, a comprehensive holistic plan of how the Ministry will deliver quality education from pre-nursery to tertiary is necessary.
She emphasized that making citizens productive and relevant for the labour market demands- not only in Guyana- are critical functions of the sector. She added that the Ministry is pleased to see so much interest from stakeholders as is evident from the fact that ever so often, the Ministry is commented on in letters, editorials, articles and commentaries. Emphasizing Government’s commitment to the sector, Manickchand reiterated that her Ministry receives the largest slice of the National Budget. This is because Government is cognizant that quality education would result in economic growth, which will benefit anyone.

Manickchand acknowledged that the sector needs to improve performance in the areas of Mathematics and English. However, it cannot express dissatisfaction and accept the situation as it is. The Ministry is adamant that dissatisfaction must be translated into corrective action to change the numbers.
To initiate this change the Ministry needs to see the training of more teachers so they could deliver the curriculum effectively. Already, over 72 percent of teachers in the classroom are trained. In addition, students’ attendance need to increase and classrooms need to be adequately equipped with learning materials.
Referring to an Inter American Development Bank brochure, the Minister emphasized the need to have high expectations in the sector. She noted that top performing education systems need to set ambitious standards in terms of curriculum, teacher training, and educational materials.

Another area the Bank identified as one of the five dimensions of success is having a student centric education system ready to learn. Manickchand said that the Ministry would reveal shortly its new Early Childhood Education Development programme. This initiative would see the sector building on strides made over the last five years. It would see the Ministry reforming and tweaking to fix the flaws in the system.
She pointed out that the Ministry has written its own text books relevant to Guyana but which satisfy international standards and benchmarks.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/27/guyanas-education-is-at-its-best-manickchand/

UNDER the theme ‘Eliminating literacy, modernising education and strengthening tolerance’, the Ministry of Education has intensified efforts to have Portuguese taught in schools countrywide.

Presenting an overview of the programme, Deputy Chief Education Officer (Development), Ms. Doodmattie Singh reminded the gathering of the pioneering work done by the ministry to establish Portuguese as a new modern language on the national curriculum when it initially launched the Portuguese curriculum last year in six schools. The aim is to further develop the capacity of modern languages teachers within the education system, as the Education Ministry launched the ‘Training for Teachers of Portuguese’ programme yesterday at theatre Guild.

She pointed out that an additional 15 schools will now offer Portuguese when the new school year begins in September 2014. The initial six schools that formed part of the initial launch of Portuguese in Guyana were Queen’s College, The Bishops’ High, Saint Stanislaus College, Saint Roses High, Saint Joseph High and North Georgetown Secondary.

The additional 15 schools earmarked to carry Portuguese in 2014 are as follows: In Georgetown – Brickdam Secondary, Christ Church Secondary and Central High; Region #3 – Zeeburg Secondary and West Demerara Secondary; Region #4 – Hope Secondary, Annandale Secondary, President’s College and Diamond Secondary; Region #5 – Rosignol Secondary and Bygeval Secondary; Region #8 – Mahdia Secondary; Region #9 – St Ignatius Secondary; and Region #10 – Mackenzie High.

Ms. Singh explained that this new “Training for Teachers of Portuguese” programme forms part of the teacher professional development programme and will facilitate training of teachers from the schools identified in the delivery of the Portuguese curriculum.

The Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) will expand its teacher training in Portuguese as part of its modern language teacher training programme.

Remarks made by representatives of various educational institutions reiterated the necessity of Portuguese being taught in schools. One great example given was by Principal of CPCE, Ms. Viola Rowe, who explained that she had been given the chance to acquire her Master’s degree in Brazil, and because of her inability to speak or understand the language, she was made uncomfortable and passed up the opportunity.

Education Minister, Priya Manickchand expressed satisfaction that, after nine months, the ministry can be embarking on a programme of this magnitude, which further establishes Portuguese in schools across the country.

“We at the Ministry of Education are very conscious that we have a huge responsibility to make sure we meet the needs of Guyana today, as well as prepare our young people to meet the needs of Guyana tomorrow,” she said.

Ms. Manickchand highlighted the importance of Guyanese children being able to access and learn foreign languages, particularly Spanish and Portuguese, which significantly help in communicating and integrating with our immediate neighbours.

The minister emphasised that the launch of this programme is in line with the commitment that the ruling PPP/C Government made during its Election 2011 campaign, in which its manifesto unquestionably stated that within the next five years it will work at “Strengthening foreign language teaching, both in the school system, including at the primary school level, and for the public at large; with special emphasis being placed on Spanish and Portuguese, reflecting our country’s continental prospects”.

She said that the Government was fulfilling part of that promise by “preparing ourselves to introduce Portuguese all across this country”.

The minister further indicated that to enable parents and the country to be able to converse with our children, the ministry will be reaching out, through the Learning Channel, with specialised programmes to teach Portuguese in very creative and innovative ways.

Source: Written By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally ; http://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/24/education-ministry-launches-training-programme-for-teachers-of-portuguese-subject-eventually-to-be-taught-in-schools-countrywide

Education Minister Priya Manickchand has requested three weeks to divulge exactly how the promised $10,000 per child will be distributed and when.
Manickchand made the disclosure on Wednesday last in response to a question posed by her shadow counterpart in the National Assembly, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s, Amna Ally.

The Minister disclosed that there are 188,000 students in the public school system spread across the country and as such Government was looking to find a mechanism that would see transparency and accountability in the disbursement of the money to parents across the 10 regions.

Ally in posing her question to Manickchand in the House drew reference to the 2014 Budget presentation, when Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh proposed that $10,000 would be given to each school child.
The Finance Minister said during his presentation that in an effort to give additional support to parents of school aged children, “Government will provide a cash grant to the parents of every child attending nursery, primary or secondary school in the public education system in the amount of $10,000 per child for the year 2014.”

The APNU Member of Parliament indicated to the House that she had spoken to the Minister on the telephone and Manickchand had requested a three-week deferral in providing a response to the question, to which Ally acquiesced.
Ally told the House that the Minister is “challenged” to provide an answer at present, hence the need for a deferral.
Manickchand told the House that she initiated the telephone conversation with Ally. She explained that the challenge faced, relates to the number of students across the country “and for us to reach all efficiently, and in a manner that would be transparent and accountable, we would like some time to examine all the possible facilities that are available to us in government, working with private partners to be able to do this.”

Manickchand sought to assure the House that “once we know what would be best, given consultations with the private sector and in conversation with parents, I would be happy to share that immediately.”
She said that this information would be shared even if it means before coming back to the House.
The Education Minister assured that “we are presently working on ensuring that we provide this benefit.”
The $10,000 per school child initiative has been lauded by many in civil society.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/23/manickchand-given-three-weeks-to-announce-method-for-10000-initiative/

After completing two years of rigorous postgraduate studies at Lesley University in the USA, 13 local school welfare officers, guidance counsellors and social workers graduated on Saturday with Master of Arts Degrees in Counselling and Psychology, Expressive Therapies and Mindfulness Studies.

The graduates are Oslyn Crawford, Juanita Cameron, Anand Sharma, Latoya Hillman, Pricilla Gonsalves, Vickchand Ramphal, Sewpaul Persaud, Stephen Bactawar, Onika Pearson, Sharon Dyall, Kaycina Jardine, Haimraj Hamandeo, and Azharuddin Zahaur, the Education ministry said in a press release. They are from the Education, Labour, Human Services and Social Security ministries respectively.

The students expressed gratitude to the government and United Nations Children’s Fund for affording them the opportunity to study at the Cambridge, Massachusetts university. They also pledged to use their newly acquired knowledge to do their jobs more effectively and make a more meaningful impact on children’s lives.

Sharon Dyall, a Senior Guidance and Counselling Officer in the Education Ministry in Region Three, said she plans to use her newly acquired knowledge to increase her “efficiency and effectiveness in trauma sensitive assessment, intervention and counselling techniques to address issues such as depression, domestic violence, suicide, learning and behavioural problems.”

“My experience as a student at Lesley University is one that has had a tremendous impact on my total life. The courses were all interconnected and interrelated and served as an excellent means for social work professionals. Whether the course was Power, Privilege & Oppression, Ways of Knowing, Expressive Arts as Therapy, the hands on experience made it easier to relate to clients and their situation and apply an intervention from a point of knowledge and experience, graduate Oslyn Crawford said.

Kaycina Jardine praised the professors’ patience during her course of study. She too pledged to use her newly acquired knowledge and skills acquired to make a meaningful contribution in the areas of student welfare and counselling.

“Apart from increasing my knowledge base in the areas of counseling and psychology, the experience at the Lesley University was very inspiring and fulfilling, Juanita Cameron said. “As a social services provider, I feel better equipped to handle mental health disorders.”

Over the past 10 years the education ministry recognised the increasing need for a wide range of social services and expanded the support services offered to students. It recruited an unprecedented number of school welfare officers and guidance counsellors and installed them within the sector countrywide. Further, recognizing the dearth of specialized postgraduate training available to these professionals at the University of Guyana, the ministry established a partnership with Lesley University – which is internationally renowned for its wide-ranging courses in the area of social work – to facilitate some of its leading social work professionals obtaining advanced level training in this field.

According to the ministry, after intense discussions Lesley University designed the programme especially for the Guyana situation, with specific focus on the areas of counselling and psychology, expressive therapies and mindfulness studies. To qualify for the programme, the participants needed to have a degree in social work, education or a related field and had been delivering support services to students and teachers in the education system or children who were being served by the Childcare and Protection Agency. Prospective candidates also had to write a persuasive essay justifying their eligibility for the programme.

The ministry extended congratulations to the graduates.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/news/guyana/05/22/social-services-professionals-graduate-lesley-university/

THE Ministry of Education is still working on the logistics for the disbursement of the $10,000 grant for children in public schools, according to the Education Minister, Dr. Priya Manickchand.She made the disclosure in the National Assembly Wednesday night, in answer to a question from A Partnership for National Unity (APNU) Member of Parliament (MP) and Shadow Education Minister Amna Ally, requiring an oral reply.

CASHLESS TRANSACTION

The Opposition MP queried what mechanism would be employed by the Education Ministry to disburse the monies promised in Budget 2014.
The expenditure was approved by the House during the 2014 Budget debates in April and was one of several measures announced by Finance Minister, Dr. Ashni Singh, to contribute to the improvement of the lives of the Guyanese people.
The provision caters for each nursery, primary and secondary school student in Guyana.
Manickchand said the process of finalising the mechanisms should be completed within another three weeks.
She explained that the current challenge relates to the fact that the public education system has over 188,000 students and time is needed to examine all the possible facilities that can be used to disburse the monies.
The minister noted, too, that her Ministry is working with parents and private partners to ensure that the children receive the promised benefit.
After the announcement of the financial support, Head of the Presidential Secretariat (HPS), Dr. Roger Luncheon said, in April, that Cabinet was exploring ways through which the $10,000 per child cash grant can be paid.
“The main focus is access…whether the access would be unfettered, essentially open-ended and the parents have absolute discretion…,” the HPS stated.

He added that Cabinet is also looking at ways through which the disbursement could contribute to a cashless transaction or at least promote the development of financial services in Guyana.
The Ministries of Finance and Education and entrepreneurs alike have all recognised that handling disbursements in that manner can enhance the improvement of the financial sector, he asserted.
Dr. Luncheon said ‘cashless’ does not involve an actual cash transfer; instead, a voucher can be given to the parents as is done in the uniform assistance programme, whereby specific items of clothing and other school requirements can be purchased.
He noted that the other possibility is not exactly cashless, whereby public officers could receive this grant along with their salaries and other emoluments which are deposited in bank accounts.
This cash grant initiative by the Government will benefit approximately 188,406 families and will cost a total of $2B.

Source: (By Vanessa Narine ) http://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/22/after-parliament-approval

 

On Saturday May 17, 2014, Guyana’s Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, was conferred an honorary doctoral degree by Lesley University for her outstanding work in advocating for social justice and gender equality. This comes in the wake of the Honourable Minister being honoured by Lesley University alongside South African Jazz Musician and Social Activist, Hugh Masekela, in 2010, for their demonstrated commitment and leadership to advancing gender and racial equality around the world.

A citation from Lesley University stated that: “Priya Manickchand, your life has been dedicated to improving the lives of women, children, and families within your country.  You have been a tireless advocate for the victims of violence and a spokesperson addressing the cultural and human conditions that give rise to the pervasive problem of gender-based violence….”

It further stated that: “As Guyana’s Minister of Human Services and Social Security, you were devoted to ending the scourge of violence against women and children.  Toward this end, you published a National Policy on

“In 2011 you were appointed Minister of Education and in this capacity you are currently leading change efforts by improving the quality of your country’s universal primary education and establishing universal secondary education.  You are a true visionary and were instrumental in establishing a relationship between Guyana and Lesley University. Recognising the need for qualified mental health professionals to address the needs of vulnerable youth, families, and communities, you worked with Lesley to develop a unique programme that educates school counselors and social workers to address the needs of the citizens of Guyana through Expressive Therapies, Counseling Psychology, and Mindfulness Practice.”

“In recognition of your life’s work in service to your community, especially to the end of violence against women and children, and the education of all Guyanese young people, Lesley University is honoured to confer upon you the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.  Presented in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 17th day of May, in the year Two Thousand Fourteen.”

After being conferred with the Doctoral degree Minister Manickchand addressed the graduates to a standing ovation. She stressed the importance of education in the deveolpment of the world. She said “Education is universally recognized as being one sure way to catapult change: to improve individual circumstances, to uplift families, to transform communities, to develop countries, to change the human condition for the better.

She told the graduates that a sure way of addressing and reolving the issues affecting the world that are identified and reflected in the Millenium development goals would be to attain gender equality. She said “This necessity to achieve gender equality and our inability to yet so do has been recognised and spoken about so much that the quest for gender equality has become a cliché. And while some gains have been forged, sadly and dangerously, frighteningly, we have not seen a shift towards attaining this most necessary status that is proportionate to the recognition for its necessity and commentary and promises that accompany that recognition….I ask you, today, whatever your passion, whatever you plan to pursue, wherever you work, wherever you live, that you ensure you consciously and strategically set about to use your value, the education and training you leave here with, to bring about gender equality.”

Honorary degrees are awarded to men and women who have achieved distinction in their chosen fields and professions. By their examples, honorary degrees recipients make tangible a set of values we aspire to as an academic community. These individuals are models to us because of their intellectual engagement, professional achievements, and civic commitment.

Also receiving an honorary degree along with Guyana’s Minister of Education from Lesley University, is world renowned American author of children’s books, Ms. Loris Lowry.

The staff of the Ministry of Education expresses warmest congratulations to the Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, on the receipt of her Honorary Doctoral Degree from Lesley University.

Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/20/lesley-university-confers-honorary-doctorate-on-minister-of-education-priya-manickchand

On Saturday May 17, 2014, Guyana’s Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, was conferred an honorary doctoral degree by Lesley University for her outstanding work in advocating for social justice and gender equality. This comes in the wake of the Honourable Minister being honoured by Lesley University alongside South African Jazz Musician and Social Activist, Hugh Masekela, in 2010, for their demonstrated commitment and leadership to advancing gender and racial equality around the world.

A citation from Lesley University stated that: “Priya Manickchand, your life has been dedicated to improving the lives of women, children, and families within your country.  You have been a tireless advocate for the victims of violence and a spokesperson addressing the cultural and human conditions that give rise to the pervasive problem of gender-based violence….”

It further stated that: “As Guyana’s Minister of Human Services and Social Security, you were devoted to ending the scourge of violence against women and children.  Toward this end, you published a National Policy on

Domestic Violence, presented to Parliament for passage into law a series of bills relating to the care, development and protection of children, and initiated a countrywide campaign to stamp out sexual violence. That campaign realized a revolutionary Sex Offences Law being piloted by you and passed by the Parliament. You established your country’s only Childcare and Protection Agency and you expanded Legal Aid services from the capital city alone to 6 of Guyana’s 10 regions, making access to justice for Guyana’s vulnerable a reality. You also collaborated with the private sector to establish the Women of Worth economic initiative; a loan programme that provides low interest and collateral free loans to single-parent women from lower income brackets who wish to start up or expand their businesses.”

“In 2011 you were appointed Minister of Education and in this capacity you are currently leading change efforts by improving the quality of your country’s universal primary education and establishing universal secondary education.  You are a true visionary and were instrumental in establishing a relationship between Guyana and Lesley University. Recognising the need for qualified mental health professionals to address the needs of vulnerable youth, families, and communities, you worked with Lesley to develop a unique programme that educates school counselors and social workers to address the needs of the citizens of Guyana through Expressive Therapies, Counseling Psychology, and Mindfulness Practice.”

“In recognition of your life’s work in service to your community, especially to the end of violence against women and children, and the education of all Guyanese young people, Lesley University is honoured to confer upon you the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.  Presented in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 17th day of May, in the year Two Thousand Fourteen.”

After being conferred with the Doctoral degree Minister Manickchand addressed the graduates to a standing ovation. She stressed the importance of education in the deveolpment of the world. She said “Education is universally recognized as being one sure way to catapult change: to improve individual circumstances, to uplift families, to transform communities, to develop countries, to change the human condition for the better.

She told the graduates that a sure way of addressing and reolving the issues affecting the world that are identified and reflected in the Millenium development goals would be to attain gender equality. She said “This necessity to achieve gender equality and our inability to yet so do has been recognised and spoken about so much that the quest for gender equality has become a cliché. And while some gains have been forged, sadly and dangerously, frighteningly, we have not seen a shift towards attaining this most necessary status that is proportionate to the recognition for its necessity and commentary and promises that accompany that recognition….I ask you, today, whatever your passion, whatever you plan to pursue, wherever you work, wherever you live, that you ensure you consciously and strategically set about to use your value, the education and training you leave here with, to bring about gender equality.”

Honorary degrees are awarded to men and women who have achieved distinction in their chosen fields and professions. By their examples, honorary degrees recipients make tangible a set of values we aspire to as an academic community. These individuals are models to us because of their intellectual engagement, professional achievements, and civic commitment.

Also receiving an honorary degree along with Guyana’s Minister of Education from Lesley University, is world renowned American author of children’s books, Ms. Loris Lowry.

The staff of the Ministry of Education expresses warmest congratulations to the Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, on the receipt of her Honorary Doctoral Degree from Lesley University.

 Source: http://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/20/lesley-university-confers-honorary-doctorate-on-minister-of-education-priya-manickchand

CAMBRIDGE — Whenever anyone asks Priscilla Gonsalves whether it is worth it — and they always ask when they learn she is a child protection worker in some of the grittiest communities in the South American nation of Guyana — she begins her reply with: “There is this 14-year-old girl . . . “

In her job, Gonsalves said, she travels from Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city, by bus and rickety boat to small villages where child abuse is alleged or suspected. Alone, she patrols hundreds of communities whose combined population tops 7,000, farming hamlets that dot the countryside and fishing villages bordering the massive Essequibo River.
The 14-year-old she met in one of those villages had been abused for years by men close to her family, Gonsalves said, and was too traumatized to accept counseling.
“When I first met this girl, she wouldn’t speak. She wouldn’t open up,” Gonsalves said. “There was no way to get through to her, and then I heard about Lesley.”
That would be Lesley University in Cambridge, where on Saturday, 28-year-old Gonsalves and a dozen other schoolteachers and social workers from Guyana will graduate with Master’s Degrees in Trauma, Sensitive Assessment, Intervention and Consultation. If the degree title seems oddly cobbled together, it is because the program was tailored specifically for Guyanese Social Workers who largely lack specialized training to address domestic violence and child abuse.
Guyana is a small country, whose population of 735,000 is barely larger than that of Boston. Tensions among its ethnically diverse groups—with people of African and Indian descent — often makes social work difficult, Gonsalves and her classmates said.

“It has a lot to do with people being afraid of talking about mental health, especially in the villages,” she said. “It is a dirty word. And it is a lot worse, I think, because across the different ethnic groups, there is a suspicion and concern about how one group will view another if the other is getting helped by us.”
In fall 2010, Catherine Koverola, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Lesley University, along with officials from UNICEF and the Guyanese government’s social service agencies, began designing the specialized counseling curriculum.

A year later, the program was launched, and 13 Guyanese teachers and social workers enrolled. They have spent a grueling three years in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program of Lesley’s Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences: maintaining their full-time jobs while taking classes in Georgetown from local and visiting Lesley instructors, as well as from instructors in Cambridge via Skype. They also traveled to Cambridge periodically to study for two-week stints at Lesley.

“We spent a long time planning and designing this program,” said Priya Manickchand, Guyana’s Minister of Education, who was in Cambridge to attend the graduation ceremony. “What was especially important to us was to make sure that the curriculum factored in cultural nuance and respected that fact that while domestic violence is universal and is rightfully condemned everywhere, the path to correcting it and ending it may differ in different cultures.”

Stephen Bactawar, 43, who teaches high school Social Studies in Georgetown, said some Guyanese parents value hunting or fishing more than education.
“As a teacher, I observed lots of domestic situations and wanted to intervene in the children’s lives, and work along with the parents, especially when I learned the parents were not playing a great role in their childrens’ education,” Bactawar said. “But it was extremely difficult to get disengaged parents involved.”
Bactawar said his studies at Lesley helped him better understand the parents’ mental health and emotional issues, so he has had a greater chance of convincing them to get involved.
Over the past year or so, Bactawar said he has begun helping teachers recognize signs of abuse and create strategies to work with parents. He is making progress, but not all child abuse manifests in physical injuries, he said, and that can make problems harder to detect.

Indeed, Kaycina Jardine, Guyana’s 33-year-old Manager of government adoption programs and a Lesley classmate of Bactawar and Gonsalves, cited a 2012 UNICEF report that found the most common form of abuse in Guyana was neglect, not physical assault.
“My thesis focused on child victims of sexual abuse, but the even larger problem was children abandoned, not fed, not clothed, not taught, not treated properly,” Jardine said.
Fine arts therapy, long a staple at Lesley, has been part of the program for the Guyanese students.
Jardine said that coaching caregivers at orphanages in how to teach dance and music to their young charges gave her insight into what they needed to care for the children.
“It’s interesting that some of what is making the biggest difference isn’t complicated,” Jardine said. “Music and dance, for example, are two things people in our country love.”
The dancing helps the children feel more comfortable.
“We had three and four-year-olds beating their heads against the wall because they were frustrated and didn’t know how to express it,” she said. Now, after experiencing the arts therapy, she said, “they dance, they relax, they open up.”

During one of her recent three-hour bus and boat treks to the villages, Gonsalves said she experienced the greatest result yet from her graduate work, including the art therapy.
“That 14-year-old girl? She was talking and laughing and was happy to see me,” she said. “She talked. Our breakthrough came through a drawing she made, while we listened to music together. Now, she is out of her shell, and after that session, she was able to testify in court against the person who had assaulted and abused her.”
The abuser was convicted, Gonsalves said, and the girl now lives in a safe home.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/19/guyanese-students-first-to-graduate-from-lesleys-anti-abuse-program/

Advocating for the rights of children and women is undoubtedly ingrained in the anatomy of Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, whose tireless work in this regard saw her on Saturday being conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from the Lesley University in Boston Massachusetts, United States of America.

Manickchand, along with award-winning and prolific author of children’s and young adult books, Lois Lowry, were both recipients of Honorary Degrees when the University graduated 1,446.
The women were both recognised for their outstanding contributions and achievements, an indication that their respective diligence, over the years, has not gone unnoticed internationally.
Honorary Degrees are awarded to persons who have achieved distinction in their chosen fields and professions. Moreover, it was noted at the start of the graduation ceremony on Saturday, which was streamed live on the University’s website, that “Honorary Degree recipients make tangible a set of values we aspire to as an academic community. These individuals are models to us because of their intellectual engagement, professional achievement and civic commitment.”

Manickchand’s award was premised on the observation of University officials that her life has been dedicated to improving the lives of women, children and families in Guyana. Moreover, efforts were made to trace her professional career and attendance of a number of worldwide conferences that addressed issues of racial and gender equality, globally.

Although Manickchand was appointed Minister of Education in 2011, she had previously held the portfolio of Minister of Human Services and Social Security through which she was able to noticeably tackle the scourge of violence against women and children. Among her achievements, in this regard, has been the publication of a National Policy on Domestic Violence, which was presented to Parliament for passage into law of a series of Bills relating to care, development and protection of children.
She was also instrumental in initiating a countrywide campaign to stamp out sexual violence which realized the revolutionary Sexual Offences Law.

As Human Services Minister too, Manickchand also established the country’s lone Child Care and Protection Agency and expanded Legal Aid services allowing for access to justice for the vulnerable.
She was also the force behind the implementation of the Women of Worth (WOW) economic initiative, a programme that provides low interest and collateral free loans to single parent women from lower income brackets who are keen on becoming involved in the business sector.

As Minister of Education Manickchand, has been able to realize universal primary education and is already spearheading measures towards universal secondary education as well.
Moreover, University officials, Deborah Raizes, Chair, Board of Trustees and Joseph B. Moore, President, recognized Manickchand as “a true visionary” who was also instrumental in establishing a relationship between Guyana and Lesley University.

Manickchand in recognizing the need for mental health professionals to address the needs of vulnerable youth, families and communities, was able to work along with the University to develop a unique programme that educates School Counsellors and Social Workers to address the needs of Guyanese through Expressive Therapies, Counselling Psychology and Mindfulness Practice.
A total of 13 Guyanese teachers and social workers who undertook the programme at Lesley University recently graduated.

Moreover, a citation read to Manickhand on Saturday stated that “In recognition of your life’s work in service to your community, especially to the end of violence against women and children, and the education of all Guyanese young people, Lesley University is honoured to confer upon you the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.”
Both honorary awardees, Manickchand and Lowry, were required to deliver separate addresses to the graduates, an undertaking that Manickchand extensively laced with her gender-equality conviction.  She passionately appealed to the graduates to embrace the global cause of gender equality, which can often be hampered by challenges including poverty, hunger, health care and even educational inequality.

And educational inequality is evident in some sections of the world, Manickchand observed, even as she pointed out that “when a girl is not allowed an education somewhere else in the world simply because she is a girl, it will affect your lives…because we are interconnected.” “Whatever your passion, whatever you plan to pursue, wherever you work, wherever you live, wherever you play, consciously and strategically set to use your value, your training here, to bring about gender equality,” Manickchand told the graduates.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/19/education-minister-gets-honorary-doctorate/

Of the five ‘new generation’ subjects launched earlier this week across the Caribbean as part of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), Guyana will more likely than not be most interested in Agriculture Science, Tourism and Entrepreneurship.

For Guyana, all three areas are much more than academic disciplines. They are, as well, important economic sectors; agriculture remains an indispensable part of the Guyana economy while tourism has long been an area of significant investment, not matched by commensurate returns. As for entrepreneurship, its emergence as an academic discipline coincides with modest opportunities now available on account of the creation of a local Small Business Bureau to expand the frontiers of self-employment in Guyana.

The new CAPE Agriculture Science subject was launched in Georgetown on Wednesday where the Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC) Acting Registrar Glenroy Cumberbatch made the altogether pertinent comment on the overcrowded public sector in the Caribbean and the need to begin to produce more skills that can be pressed into service in the region’s private sector.

Agriculture Science, Tourism and Entrepreneurship apart, Physical Education and Sport and the Performing Arts will be taught in schools from September in preparation for CAPE examinations in 2015.

Hopefully, the CXC official is correct in his assertion that the introduction of the new subjects on the CAPE curriculum will assist students in making a seamless transition from school to the world of work. If it remains true that the contemporary private sector is on the lookout for a combination of certification and practical skills, the issue will inevitably arise as to whether the CAPE curriculum will provide them with what they want in those key new disciplines.

Discourses have surfaced here in Guyana and elsewhere in the region as to whether CXC subjects like Agriculture Science and Home Economics are not tailor-made as ‘make up’ subjects for students aiming for success at multiple subjects that position them for a regional award.

With some of those subjects now appearing on the CAPE curriculum the challenge which the CXC now has is to ensure that its graduates in areas like Agriculture Science and Tourism are adequately equipped to meet the demands of the private sector workplaces.

Insofar as the introduction of Agriculture Science on the CAPE curriculum is concerned CXC says that this is in response to its recognition that agriculture and increased food production are critical regional sectors and key components in the development of policies that drive economic growth. CXC says that by including Agriculture Science on the CAPE curriculum it hopes to make available more persons who are equipped with the knowledge, skills and competencies to understand and sustain the development of agriculture.

Significantly, the CAPE Agriculture Science curriculum includes instructions in the disciplines of packaging and marketing, both of which have been key areas of underachievement in the Guyana’s manufacturing sector.

If CXC through its current intervention can turn those weaknesses around, the local and regional private sectors would be indebted to the institution. Other subject areas that are part of the CAPE agriculture curriculum including horticulture, farm management (and farm attachments) are all directly relevant to raising standards in the sector.

In Barbados, where the launch of CAPE’s tourism discipline took place this week the Caribbean Tourism Organisation also recognised the significance of the CXC initiative. Equally, it made the point regarding the importance of ensuring that the subject be taken beyond simply another academic discipline. As in the various other newly introduced CAPE subject areas, tourism will only be relevant if it serves as a vehicle for strengthening the human resource base of the sector and ultimately contributing to its growth and development. That will be the acid test of the effectiveness of the initiative which the CXC took in the region this week.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/business/05/16/new-cape-subjects-bring-academia-closer-helping-region-meet-key-needs/