Education Minister Priya Manickchand says there is no need to discipline children in schools by hitting them and hinted at a review the guidelines for corporal punishment in the school system.

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Manickchand, while speaking to the News Room on Tuesday, acknowledged that there were breaches of the Ministry of Education’s guidelines for disciplining children.

Based on guidelines, corporal punishment in schools must only be administered by the head teacher, deputy or designated senior mistress or master.

Even with those guidelines, there have been complaints circulating online which suggest that teachers within classrooms are disciplining students.

The Education Minister, however, believes that physical punishment for children should be eliminated from schools.

“I think the time has come for us to allow other forms of discipline – to promote other forms of discipline – and to allow them to grow up in a violence free world, beginning with how we instill discipline; and so that is something you will see on our table very shortly,” the Education Minister stated.

“I personally do not believe we should be beating children in school; I think the rules we have right now are frequently breached and that is visible from social media.

“I believe that the very least we could do is allow parents to opt out of their children being disciplined with flogging or blows and so it is something we have to look back at and I am committed to looking back at it for the school system.”

Manickchand reminded the public that there have been instances when consultations were taken to Parliament over the forms of discipline in schools. Manickchand herself has led legislative debates on this before.

On Friday last, Manickchand gave teachers and trainee teachers a stern warning about “beating children black and blue” in the classrooms. She reminded teachers that they are responsible for nurturing children. She also told them that their attitudes and behaviours at school- whether good or bad- will leave a mark on the students in their classrooms.

Guyana signed onto the United Nations (UN) Rights of the Child Convention which sets out universal legal standards for the protection of children against neglect, abuse and exploitation. It also guarantees children their basic human rights.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/11/23/no-need-to-beat-children-in-schools-manickchand-hints-at-overdue-review-of-corporal-punishment/

Education Minister Priya Manickchand has issued a stern warning to contractors undertaking education projects, noting that the ministry will be imposing penalties for late delivery of projects as students are affected when projects are not completed on time and to standard.

The Minister was speaking at the sod-turning for the new $566.9 million North Ruimveldt Secondary School in Georgetown which is being rebuilt after the old structure was destroyed by fire.

“So, when contractors fail to do what they’re supposed to do, at the quality they’re supposed to do it, children suffer,” Manickchand said.

“I’m going to be harsher and more vigilant on delivery and that will see us doing things like apply liquated damages because people suffer when we don’t get these schools ready, when they’re not done to specs,” she added.

She told the contractors that when it comes to education projects, it cannot be just another job because if the project isn’t finished the students cannot be educated and therefore it’s “very important” that projects are completed at a high quality and on time.

“If we don’t finish people will live in poverty for the rest of their lives because they miss that one single year where they couldn’t go to school,” she explained.

The Education Minister shared that she was informed on Wednesday by the Regional Education Officer of Region Eight (Potaro – Sipuruni) that because of a delayed project within the region, they must now return to ‘primary tops’ – a system where secondary students are hosted at a primary school.

Manickchand reminded that contractors are chosen from an impartial and transparent process of public tendering based on their bid submitted for the project and therefore contractors cannot claim victimisation when penalties are applied.

“So you can’t tell me if we’re applying penalties, at that point, that we don’t like you. We like you enough to sign the contract with you today and to turn the sod and give you the work,” she said.

Importantly, the Minister highlighted that the projects are not only the responsibility of the contractors and engineers responsibility as these technical staff do not understand the relationship between education delivery and the construction process.

As such, each new building will have an education officer attached to the construction site who will report to the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary and Chief Education Officer who will then report to the minister on the progress of structure in relation to the delivery of education.

The ministry will also be posting what the school is supposed to look like and the specifications to which it must be constructed so that parents and other persons can scrutinize and verify it for themselves.

“We’re not in doubt about what happens when physical space is not ready or is destroyed for children and that is why we must protect in every way, schools, the learning that happens there and the reputation of schools,” Manickchand said.

Manickchand explained that usually more than 150 students would be placed at the North Ruimveldt Secondary, due to the destruction caused by the fire only 50 students would be placed at the school in 2022.

Stressing that schools must be protected at all costs, Manickchand reminded of the North West Secondary School in Region One which was destroyed by arson, and highlighted that students from that institution are now being educated under tents.

The North Ruimveldt Secondary School was destroyed by a fire in June, 2021. Manickchand had pledged at the time of the fire that the government will rebuild the institution which housed 512 students along with 39 teachers.

The new three-story school will be outfitted with all modern amenities, including science labs, Information Technology (IT) labs, modern classrooms, and a staff room, among other things.

The contract for the school was awarded to Kares Engineering Inc. and is expected to be completed within the next 14 months.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/08/24/when-contractors-fail-children-suffer-manickchand-says-as-sod-turned-for-566m-north-ruimveldt-secondary/

The conversation on dated hair rules in schools continues with the Ministry of Education now moving to meet with teachers next but subject minister Priya Manickchand emphasised that children’s rights and self- esteem must be considered.

Many have lamented that these hair rules are restrictive. Some highlighted that the rules have a much greater impact on Afro-Guyanese girls, many of whom have been forced to ‘relax’ their hair to maintain a neat appearance.

Resultantly, Manickchand said that the ministry has been compiling the rules from schools across the country with a view of assessing them and their impact on children.

“The rules are all over the place at individual schools,” Manickchand said while responding to questions at the sidelines of an event on Monday.

She said that some schools have “subjective interpretations” of what a “neat and tidy” child should look like; that means that some schools permit certain hair styles, while others do not.

“… These are not things that affect the curriculum in any way and going past whether or not it affects learning and reception of information; we’re dealing with a rights issue, and a confidence issue and a self- esteem issue,” the Education Minister emphasised.

During a recent panel discussion, hosted by the News Room, Salima Hinds, a feminist and gender specialist, reminded the virtual audience that Guyana is a signatory to various international treaties that cater for the rights of children.

As per these rights, children should be learning in a safe, comfortable environment that is free from any discrimination.

Manickchand described the issue as “varied and dynamic.”

She, however, said, “If there is one thing that we are sure of, it is that a school should not be a place that is hurting children or in any way causing them to doubt themselves.”

Already, considerable input has already been made on this conversation. Following the social media outcry, the Education Ministry launched three surveys to garner input from stakeholders- parents, students and teachers.

On Monday, Manickchand said that within the first 24 hours of releasing those surveys, more than 4,000 persons responded in each category.

Now, the ministry will be meeting with teachers in a more structured way. She previously explained that this is important because teachers are the ones who enforce the rules that were created by schools.

Manickchand said that this meeting is expected to be hosted next week; subsequently, parents will be engaged.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/03/22/hair-rules-manickchand-says-childrens-rights-self-esteem-must-be-considered/

In an effort to reduce learning loss and prevent school dropouts, the Ministry of Education commenced its ‘Operation Recovery’ exercise on Friday.

The exercise aims to assess absenteeism of students and offer support to get those children back in the classroom.

The exercise was set in motion after several children were absent from the recent National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) Mock exams.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand braved the inclement weather on Friday morning and visited the homes of pupils who have continuously been absent from school.

The Minister was accompanied by Regional Education Officer Akbar Chinu and other education officials.

Minister Manickchand noted that the world’s studies have shown that as long as school remains closed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, education systems will crash.

This can result in a large number of dropouts, gaps and learning loss in the academic world.

“We are certain in Guyana that we do not want to be a statistic, that we can take measures to mitigate against those harsh consequences. One of the mitigating measures we are taking is insisting that no child at the Common Entrance or NGSA level will drop out of school and that is why we’re engaged in this activity,” Minister Manickchand said.

‘Operation Recovery’ is being conducted in all 11 education districts across Guyana.

Education Officers from Central Ministry and within the Education Districts along with Regional officials and community activists are currently fanning out into communities to locate these pupils.

In addition to locating the Grade Six pupils, the exercise is also finding other children who have not been attending school because there is little to no access to resources for them to do so.

To this end, Minister Manickchand appealed to all of Guyana to be a part of the efforts to ensure that each child has access to educational opportunities.

“There is no way we can change the lives of these children except to get them an education and we are very sure at the Ministry of Education that this is something that we can do. We can get these children back into schools and once we do, we are going to devise different things, different strategies and different ways of plugging the learning loss gap…we’re asking parents to send your children to school, we’re asking community members and everybody else to ensure as far as you can, we get every child back into the classroom.”

The Ministry believes firmly that urgent, practical, sustained measures such as teaching and learning from a consolidated curriculum, the provision of textbooks, re-training of teachers, using technology in the classroom and ‘Operation Recovery’ will mitigate against the predicted loss to our students and country.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/02/25/operation-recovery-no-grade-six-pupil-will-drop-out-of-school-manickchand/

The 2022 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) commenced on Wednesday and Minister of Education Priya Manickchand assured all pupils of high-quality secondary education.

Manickchand spoke with the press while visiting pupils at the Bel Air Primary School in Georgetown.

The NGSA determines which secondary school a child attends and Manickchand related that the government is working to ensure all secondary schools deliver the same quality of education.

“Our commitment to you is that we are working very, very hard to make sure every school delivers a high-quality education.

“So, if you get Campbellville Secondary, you can be assured that in five years you will be a student to whom value was significantly added and who will be productive once they leave the school,” Manickchand said.

She further related that the government implemented specific initiatives to prepare children for the exams such as a consolidated curriculum and two mock examinations.

Worksheets and quizzes were also prepared for pupils. The exams end on Thursday.

“We are confident that we are not going to be seeing see some of the results that some of our sister CARICOM countries have been bawling about recently,” Manickchand said.

Trinidad and Tobago recorded a significant decline in students’ performance in the country’s primary exit exams – Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) – this year.

As such, Trinidad’s Minister of Education Dr. Nyan Gadsby-Dolly said there will be no announcement of top-ranking performances and schools. The poor performance is due to learning loss resulting from the lack of face-to-face classes, Trinidad Express reported.

In Guyana, the education ministry launched a programme known as “Operation Recovery” where stakeholders have been attempting to help return children to schools.

This programme will be intensified from September when faith-based and non-governmental organsiations will assist the ministry in getting children back into schools.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/07/06/manickchand-assures-ngsa-pupils-of-high-quality-secondary-education/

The Ministry of Education’s textbook distribution exercise for Region Three (Essequibo Islands – West Demerara) started on Saturday, at the Dem Amstel Primary school on the West Coast of Demerara (WCD)

The Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand in brief remarks at this school told parents that the academic success of their children depend on the support received at home. She noted that this is highlighted in many instances where parents who displayed a keen interest in their children’s education.

“Any child who is successful, and while you have some exceptions, the majority of them have parents who support them or support them and note I didn’t say rich parents,” she said.

Minister Manickchand further urged parents to not politicise their children’s education.

She reminded parents of their duty to act in the best interest of their child. She underscored that it is important for each child to have their textbooks so they can achieve their full potential.

On Saturday, textbooks were also distributed at the Tuschen and Parika Salem primary schools.

Each primary school pupil in the public system will receive textbooks that cover the core subject areas, Mathematics, English Language, Science and Social Studies.

The Ministry of Education remains committed to ensuring that there is equitable access to educational resources to every pupil across Guyana. (Modified press release from the Ministry of Education) 

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/03/05/children-need-their-parents-to-succeed-manickchand/

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Monday advised that her ministry will soon roll out a new hairstyle policy for school children.

According to Manickchand, the policy could be in place by the new school term in September 2022, following several rounds of consultations with parents, teachers and other stakeholders.

“We’re going to try to write that up and get our policy out for the new school term, for September,” the Minister told the News Room via telephone.

She explained that public consultations are still being held and with hopes of implementing a new policy.

Conversations about outdated hairstyle policies in the school system started in March 2022 after the Ministry issued a memo, announcing a relaxation of existing hairstyle rules in schools for teachers and students.

It was to observe International Women’s Day. But soon after, a national debate permeated social media with persons calling for the abolition of the rules.

Among them was Tamika Henry-Fraser, the creator of the social movement Curl Fete.

During a panel discussion hosted by the News Room, she contended that the policy or rules which require that students’ hair is kept neat and tidy do not consider afro Guyanese children.

Manickchand, who participated in the panel discussion, had agreed that the hairstyle rules in schools needed to be examined and possibly changed.

Soon after there were efforts, coordinated by the Ministry of Education, aimed at overhauling outdated-school rules which disproportionately affect learners based on gender and ethnicity.

The conversation also addresses the idea that the rules are outdated because hairstyles cannot determine whether a child learns in class.

Manickchand said that she has heard of students being sent home and even placed in detention and punished for their hairstyles not being appropriate or acceptable according to the rules. But she explained that hairstyles cannot determine whether a student learns.

Since then, Manickchand said that all efforts are geared towards removing some of the archaic rules that could narrow how people express themselves.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/06/13/new-hairstyle-policy-for-schools-possible-by-september-manickchand/

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand at the opening of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) 2nd Triennial Delegates Conference on Wednesday promised that teachers will find no resistance from the ministry on sensible and practical positions.

The conference is being held under the theme “Enhancing New Education Perspectives in a Pandemic” and concludes today.

“Your voice will not find resistance in the Ministry of Education, where it is practical, where it is sensible and where it is impartial. That voice must be the amalgamation and reflection of the highly diverse and sometimes contrasting ideas and desires of our teaching force,” Manickchand was quoted by a Ministry of Education statement  as saying during her address.

According to the statement, the Minister told the GTU that it is vital that it is perceived as being balanced, unbiased and the ultimate defender of the rights of all teachers. She added that the Union must stay resolute in its desire to be the impartial intermediary that teachers need and deserve while resisting being “swayed by the objectives and agendas of desperate groups within society.”

The Education Minister told the Union it is on this premise that its relevance, evolution and eventual success rests.

Manickchand reiterated her commitment to working with the GTU to advance the overall standing of teachers as a means of improving the education system. She said that currently, over 2500 teachers are beneficiaries of scholarships through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) pursuing bachelor’s degrees, masters, PhDs and postgraduate programmes. Additionally, she said that due to COVID and the physical closure of the Cyril Potter College of Education, teacher training was expanded and offered online which increased the intake at the College from the traditional 535 to now enrolling 3000 new students due to the training online.

She told the GTU that the aim is to have 100% of the teachers in the education system trained or  in the process of being trained, explaining that while there are great untrained teachers in the system, students are more likely to receive better instruction from teachers who have undergone training.

Moreover, she said that the Ministry and the Union must work in partnership and meet each other earnestly and objectively with a singular mission of securing a better future for the children of Guyana. To that end, she said that both parties must develop a stronger alliance that fosters greater social dialogue to facilitate the voices of teachers being fully and continuously heard.

She said that this partnership must ensure that teachers receive access to professional development opportunities that align with the needs of educators and that policies must be devised to advance the empowerment of teachers and their professional practice.

The Ministry’s statement said that the President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union, Mark Lyte called for greater investment in the use of Information Communi-cation Technology (ICT) moving forward, adding that COVID-19 allowed both the Ministry of Edu-cation and teachers to utilize and embrace the benefits of technology to education delivery and management.

Back to 1970s

Meanwhile, in his address to the Congress, Leader of the Opposition Aubrey Norton called on the union to “represent” the cause of reverting the education system back to the 1970 standards.

“I am a beneficiary of the Burnham education system in the 1970s. It was the pride of the Caribbean. We must return to those lofty standards. Even at the primary level, schooling was first-rate. We need to return to ensuring all children at the primary level must be literate, numerate, and able to reason well,” he said.

He added, “to achieve this, we have to have more well-trained teachers to be able to reduce the size of each class, we need to improve the training of our teachers and formulate and implement policies and programmes to improve the nutrition of our children and take all the necessary action to keep them in school.”

Norton said that the challenge in the education sector is how the new reality is handled while fixing existing issues such as unsatisfactory remuneration and working conditions for teachers, inadequate student performances at all levels, substandard learning and teaching resources and working environment. He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had forced the adoption of new norms with teachers being at the forefront.

He accused the current government of reversing  the progress made in the education sector during the APNU+AFC’s time in government noting that more children are failing and dropping out of school.

“As the government in waiting, we intend to reduce the number of students dropping out of school to less than ten per cent of the high school population. This is particularly important when it is noted that between 1992 and 2015 as many as 150,000 students did not finish high school. This trend is with us again in the post-2020 period. This cannot continue. This will not continue,” he said.

Norton said that the APNU+AFC “government in waiting” will develop a people-centred approach to tackling the education system.

“We believe in quality, not just quantity. We believe that we must work with our teachers to build a workforce capable of transforming this country. Your work, teachers, will be the engine of growth of our economy now and long after the oil wells are dry. To help accomplish these goals we will continuously increase teacher salaries, remove the burden of taxation, provide you more access to duty-free concessions and ensure classrooms are smart, modern, and fully resourced,” he said.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2022/04/22/news/guyana/manickchand-promises-teachers-no-resistance-on-practical-sensible-positions/

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, has begun to engage leaders in the religious community to address the issues of school dropouts and antisocial behaviours in the school environment.

Over the last week, Minister Manickchand has met with religious leaders in the Christian and Islamic communities and will soon be meeting with leaders from the Hindu community.

During the meetings, the Education Minister highlighted that the Ministry has implemented several measures aimed at ensuring students return to school and receive an education in a safe and cohesive environment.

Since schools have been reopened, in addition to addressing the issue of school dropouts, the Ministry of Education has been dealing with reports of violent and antisocial behaviour exhibited by students, particularly those in secondary schools.

The religious leaders were told that their help will be two-fold. They will assist the Ministry in carrying out “Operation Recovery” by engaging early school leavers and their parents within their respective communities. This will help to determine the reasons behind the students leaving school and find solutions to ensure they are back in the classroom receiving the education they rightly deserve.

Secondly, their presence in schools will be used to curb antisocial behaviours by counselling and guiding students to make better decisions which will positively impact their lives.

This is part of the Ministry’s expansion of its social work capacity to be able to respond the needs of students across the country. The Ministry of Education is committed to ensuring each child has access to educational opportunities.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2022/06/25/manickchand-in-talks-with-religious-community-to-address-issues-at-schools/