The Government of Guyana is offering a second chance to resident Guyanese who have not been able to complete their secondary education under a new initiative titled: Get Ready for Opportunities to Work (GROW).

This scholarship programme is being offered to applicants at no cost and will be done under the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL).

This initiative aims to offer Guyanese, 18 years and over, who never had an opportunity to complete their secondary school education or obtained less than five passes in CSEC/GCE subjects (including Mathematics and English) the opportunity to matriculate to tertiary education.

Applicants can either apply for a Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels 5 & 6 diploma or a General Education Development (GED) diploma.

The SCQF diploma is a comprehensive preparatory programme to be delivered within a three (3) to six (6) month period targeting applicants who have at least completed Grade nine of their secondary education or sat the CSEC examination but did not obtain pass in 4 subjects.

The students will study seven (7) courses: Communications, Business, Mathematics with Excel, Behavioural Management, Marketing, Introductory Economics, and International Relations.

The Diploma is internationally accredited and is offered by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) in partnership with Jain University, India. The SQA is the national awarding body in Scotland responsible for the development, accreditation and certification of qualifications.

SQA was established and constituted by the Education (Scotland) Act in 1996. Upon completing the programme, students will be able to enroll in Bachelor’s Degree programmes in Humanities; Commerce; Business and Management; Computer Science and Information Technology at Jain University or any other University accepting SCQF’s qualifications.

Meanwhile, the General Educational Development (GED) Diploma is offered through Texila American University (Guyana) and other partners.

It is an intensive three (3) months programme targeting applicants who were unable to write or who did not attain passes in five (5) subjects at the CXC/CSEC level. The GED is equivalent to the United States of America High School Diploma.

Students who choose the GED Diploma will be exposed to four core areas: Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts.

On successful completion of the GED programme, students will be able to matriculate to four (4) year Bachelor’s degree programmes at Texila University, Guyana or any other University that accepts GED qualifications.

All classes will be conducted online during evening hours to accommodate students who work during the daytime while examinations will also be conducted online at the end of the programme.

Interested persons can register on the GOAL website (www.goal.edu.gy) or using the GOAL portal:

For the SCQF programme:

or

For the GED programme:

To apply, a copy of an applicant’s CSEC results or Secondary School report card is required along with a copy of photo ID. They must also have access to a laptop, tablet computer and the internet.

These programmes fall under the Government of Guyana’s 20,000 Online Scholarship Initiative. (Ministry of Education press release)

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/05/18/scholarship-programme-launched-for-persons-who-did-not-complete-secondary-school/

More than half of the 73 Grade Six pupils attending the Belladrum Primary School in Region Five (Mahaica- Berbice) require breakfast  daily and the newly-launched school’s breakfast programme from the Ministry of Education is filling that need.

The school’s headteacher, Savitrie Diaram, told the News Room on Wednesday that numerous pupils attend classes without eating breakfast at home.

In some instances, children do not attend school because they do not have meals.

One explanation for this, Diaram related, is that many parents seek employment in other regions. As such, the children are left in the care of guardians and grandparents who, she said, may be unable to prepare breakfast daily. Children living in those situations instead return home for lunch.

But with the Education Ministry’s newly-launched breakfast programme, these challenges are being addressed at Belladrum and the 24 other primary schools in the region.

All Grade Six pupils at these schools receive a nutritious breakfast each day.

And at Belladrum, Diaram said the children are benefitting enormously.

“Children are coming more on time and they are coming every day to school because they know they have something to look forward to,” she happily related.

It was also noted that children appear to be more focused during their classes.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, who addressed the launch of the programme at the Belladrum school on Wednesday, said this initiative is one that is expected to benefit children all across the country.

It is envisioned that the programme will be expanded to other grades in future.

The Minister also noted that the breakfast programme is one that allows people in communities, particularly women, to earn as they cater the breakfast needed by the schools.

Omedelle Amsterdam, a mother of a Grade Six pupil at the Belladrum school, was selected as the school’s caterer. In addition to the benefits a nutritious breakfast provides to her daughter and her classmates, she said it is a welcomed relief to her household.

Because her daughter gets breakfast every day, she spends less preparing breakfast for her family. Additionally, she is able to earn through her catering services.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/11/16/breakfast-prog-launched-for-25-primary-schools-in-region-5/

On Wednesday, the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand met with parents and teachers of the Graham’s Hall Primary School to address overcrowding at the school.

Present at the meeting were Chief Education Officer, Mr Saddam Hussain, Assistant Chief Education Officer- Primary, Mr Rabindra Singh, Principle Education Officer, Mr Immanuel Bridgewater, Assistant Chief Education Officer- Secondary, Ms Tiffany Harvey and Superintendent of Exams, Ms Saudia Kadir.

As a temporary solution to the issue, a previous decision was taken to utilise tents that have adequate lighting, ventilation, and air conditioning to house students. This decision was made both by the teachers and Parent-Teachers’ Association (PTA) body.

While addressing parents, Minister Manickchand noted that the issue was inherited and further highlighted it was caused and exacerbated because persons neglected to follow the rules relating to placement.

Pupils are entitled to be registered at schools closest to their homes. However, an examination of the records at Graham’s Hall Primary would show pupils from as far as West Demerara and Mahaicony are enrolled and attending the school.

In addition to inadequate accommodation for pupils, overcrowding affects the delivery of education since teachers are required to pay attention to more pupils.

During the meeting, parents aired their concerns about the issue and offered possible solutions. Parents who live in the catchment felt that those who do not should be made to attend schools close to their homes while parents who benefited from the broken rules felt an extension of the school should be done.

These will be taken into consideration as the Ministry moves forward.

It was noted that unless written permission is sought from the Chief Education Officer, no child should be registered at the school until the issue is sorted. (Modified press release from the Ministry of Education)

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/12/08/overcrowding-issue-at-grahams-hall-school-being-addressed/

In an effort to accommodate more students and to ensure they are comfortably housed, new structures are being constructed at the Bishops’ High School and Queen’s College at a total cost of close to $200 million.

The Ministry of Education on its Facebook page yesterday announced and provided brief details of the projects in separate posts.

According to the Ministry, new classrooms are being built at Bishops’  to accommodate more students.

At Queen’s College, an annex is being constructed. “This will allow more students to be comfortably accommodated,” the Ministry of Education said.

The projects will cost  $95.4m and $103.5m, respectively. Both projects are expected to be completed within the first half of next year.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand along with Permanent Secretary, Alfred King and Deputy Chief Education Officer-Development, Volika Jaikishun visited both schools yesterday morning to inspect ongoing works.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand (second from left) visited the site in the Bishops’ High School compound where new classrooms are being built. (MOE photo)

The section in the Queen’s College compound where the Annex is being constructed. (MOE photo).

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2022/09/02/news/guyana/new-structures-to-house-more-students-at-qc-bishops/

President of the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) Bissoondyal Singh has indicated his readiness to institute a very comprehensive school cricket development programme.

In this regard, the GCB will soon be meeting with officials of the Ministry of Education to discuss the implementation of the school cricket programme for 2022 onwards.

The Board plans to place emphasis on nursery, primary and secondary schools, with the nursery aspect being formally explored for the first-time in the history of GCB’s cricket administration. The nursery school’s cricket main focus is to introduce cricket related skills to kids at an early age.

These training and development activities will be carried out across all three counties of Guyana under the categories Nursery, Under-9, Under-11, Under-13, Under-15, Under-17, Under-19 and will feature key development areas of male and female cricket.

All activities will begin with the training of students interested in playing the sport to facilitate the identification of these players for competitive matches.

With the exception of Under-9 cricket activities, the competitions will be played from an inter-zone stage before graduating to players participating at the inter-county level.

The Under-9 category will be played under an inter-school format which will be conducted for the other school categories also in 2023.

To support this initiative, the GCB will engage the Ministry of Education to permit the conduct of cricket related activities on Friday afternoons within and among schools.

Additionally, President Singh has plans for the establishment of his country-wide academies along with a cricket college which he feels will enhance the all-round development of our cricketers and for giving those who may not become a professional cricketer, the opportunity to have a career in other areas.

A number of professional facilitators will be involved in the learning exercises that are designed to suit the student-athlete.

The training activities are expected to include lateral areas of development, giving players an opportunity to consider careers in other related cricket areas such as Match Referee, Umpire, Scorer, Curator, Coaching, Manager, Statistician, Physiotherapy/Strength and Conditioning and Administrative responsibilities.

These training activities will include the conduct of Cricket West Indies coaching certification courses and pathway activities to umpire certification courses.

It will also include the component to meet the ‘player’, where national players will impart their cricketing knowledge to students.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/01/20/gcb-to-meet-education-ministry-officials-to-discuss-school-cricket-programme/

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand on Friday commissioned a smart classroom at the Christianburg Secondary School.

A release from the Ministry of Education said that this is the first of its kind in Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice (Region Ten).

Manickchand stated that the smart classroom will allow for technology-infused learning. She noted that it will not only enhance the way teachers deliver lessons but also the way students learn.

Headmistress of the school, Shellanne Craigwell said that the commissioning of the new facility is evidence of the transformation of the education sector.

The smart classroom at Christianburg Secondary School is fully equipped with an interactive board and audio system with smart cameras and a wireless television for remote access.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2022/04/06/news/guyana/first-smart-classroom-launched-in-region-ten/

Teachers who are in training and usually get a stipend will receive salaries from 2023, Minister of  Education Priya Manickchand disclosed on Friday.

The Minister, speaking at the opening of a Teacher’s Training Centre in Region Three, said the Ministry has considered ways that teachers can be better compensated for their work.

“From January next year, every teacher even as you train, you will be receiving a salary as an in service teacher,” she stated.

Currently, teachers on training receive a stipend. However, Manickchand said because they are in the classroom, it has been decided that they will receive salaries instead.

The minister noted that teaching is an important profession and should be treated as such. She further said the government is actively planning to ensure that teachers get the necessary support to conduct their duties.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/11/18/trainee-teachers-to-move-from-stipend-to-salary-from-next-year/

There have been efforts to reduce the disparity between children attending schools on the coastland and those in hinterland regions but existing challenges in Region Eight (Potaro- Siparuni) demand extra attention.

At the announcement of the 2022 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results last week, it was evident that fewer top performers came from the hinterland regions- that is, Region One, Seven, Eight and Nine.

Ranlyn Dublin, a pupil from the Paramakatoi primary school in Region Eight, was among the region’s top performers. She copped a spot at President’s College.

According to her, attending classes in the region was particularly difficult during the pandemic because of her limited access to online platforms. As such, the school relied on face-to-face classes, even when that was not advisable.

Her father Ronald Dublin acknowledged that there were good efforts at remedying the situation- including multimedia content (such as education videos) but that sometimes presented challenges. So, he opted to download all of the educational content and provide it to his daughter.

This helped in some respects.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand acknowledged these challenges and said that the ministry has been directing much effort towards guaranteeing that an equal quality of education is provided all across the country.

She, however, noted that there are some unique challenges. In Region Eight, for example, efforts at distributing resources and retaining trained teachers are complicated by the geography there.

“Region Eight is a very difficult geographic terrain to traverse and get resources to.

“… it also has the lowest number of trained teachers,” she said while responding to questions from the News Room at a recent event.

Ongoing efforts to guarantee that all teachers in the education system are trained by 2025 will see part of the problem being rectified. But, in the short term, she said that the ministry may explore offering incentives to trained teachers who opt to provide services in this region.

She also committed government’s intention to continue providing the same resources given to children in other regions- that is, all of textbooks needed and accessible radio, television and online content- to supplement their learning.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/09/13/harsh-terrain-high-costs-part-of-challenges-plaguing-improved-education-in-reg-8/

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Friday commissioned a smart classroom at the Christianburg Secondary School; this is the first of its kind in the Upper Demerara- Berbice region (Region Ten).

During brief remarks, Minister Manickchand stated that the smart classroom will allow for technology-infused learning. She noted that it will not only enhance the way teachers deliver lessons but also, the way students learn.

The commissioning of another smart classroom is in keeping with the Ministry’s vision of incorporating technology to transform the education sector.

She urged students to utilize the opportunities presented and to examine the avenues to make meaningful contributions to society.

Headmistress of Christianburg Secondary School Shellanne Craigwell noted that the commissioning of the new facility is evidence of the transformation of the education sector. She said that it will enhance the school’s capabilities.

The smart classroom at Christianburg Secondary School is fully equipped with an interactive board and audio system with smart cameras and a wireless television for remote access. (Ministry of Education press release)

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/04/02/first-smart-classroom-commissioned-in-region-ten/

Some 4,600 individuals – the largest-ever number of applicants – have applied to the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and could soon become trained teachers in the local education sector.

This is according to the Minister of Education Priya Manickchand who spoke to the News Room on Wednesday.

Manickchand reminded the public that the Ministry of Education is pursuing an ambitious goal of ensuring that teachers across the country are fully trained, or are in the process of becoming fully trained by 2024.

And with the CPCE’s shift to online delivery, the institution is now able to train more applicants than it could have before. Traditionally, with face-to-face learning, the college was only able to admit a maximum of 535 applicants.

Why this is important, Manickchand explained, is because it will increase the number of teachers entering the education system, thereby allowing learners to benefit from teachers who can engage them better.

“When you look at the hinterland, the percentage of trained teachers is much smaller.

“Now we’re going to increase the number of trained teachers there,” Manickchand told the News Room.

And the main expected outcome of the thrust of training teachers is that better results from children may be garnered- including more individualised teaching.

“We will also have a larger quantity (of teachers) so we will be able to give more individual work.

“…so, you might have a teacher and an assistant teacher in the classroom,” she said.

A few days ago, the Education Ministry issued a memorandum that stated that untrained teachers, including those employed, are now required to enroll at the CPCE.

And in that memorandum, signed by the Chief Education Officer (CEO) Dr. Marcel Hutson, the ministry said all untrained teachers can now apply at the appropriate level and programme.

It must be noted that failure to enroll in CPCE “may result in the Ministry’s inability to continue the employment of the persons so failing.”

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/05/19/almost-5000-people-register-for-training-at-teachers-college/