Minister of  Education Priya Manickchand on Saturday announced that face-to-face teaching in classrooms may resume after the Easter holiday after government intensifies its COVID-19 vaccination programme during March.

She said the Education Ministry would not take any decision without directions from the Ministry of Health. Among the steps she said that are being taken is a “comprehensive vaccination programme” during next month.

“Once that goes smoothly and as planned, we anticipate that we are going to reopen school some time after the Easter holiday not too long after. Please remember I ‘m saying that, while that is the intention and it would be our desire, that would depend on further advice from the Ministry of Health about how well the vaccination roll-out happened and how successful they were with the numbers they anticipated they wanted to reach,” she said in a video release.

Easter Sunday and  Monday are April 4 and 5, 2021.

Guyana will in early March receive 80,000 doses of  a COVID-19 vaccine from India.

For the time being, the Education Minister said only Grades 10, 11 and 12 (Forms 4,5 and 6) students would continue to attend schools in person.

Most schools across Guyana have been closed for almost one year now since the outbreak of the coronavirus, COVID-19, that has claimed almost 200 lives so far.

Ms. Manickchand said Guyana’s decision to reopen school doors possibly after Easter is in keeping with international best practice for students of all levels to get back in the classrooms and stem the long-term impact of no physical classes.

“The research suggests that the longer schools stay closed, the more long-term disadvantages we’ll have, the more students are likely to drop out, the more students are likely to suffer from learning loss or severe learning loss,” said Ms. Manickchand.

She noted that blended teaching-learning methods , including worksheets and activities, could not substitute for face-to-face engagement between students and teachers.

“We know that none of those, even a combination of them will not replace the value of a trained teacher in front of the classroom but that is what we did in the absence of being able to go back to school,” she said.

The  Minister of Education noted that a number of schools have already opened fully.

Source: https://demerarawaves.com/2021/02/27/schools-may-reopen-after-easter-holiday-to-avoid-long-term-learning-loss/

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand says that teachers and students are not to be blamed for the ungraded results that have been recorded at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE).

Last year, over 20 schools received ungraded results and this was because teachers did not submit School-Based Assessments (SBAs) on time or not submitting them properly.

This year again, Guyana’s Ministry of Education is engaging the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) on this issue but Manickchand related that it does not appear as though the teachers are at fault.

“That is not what we are seeing this year, it was just a failure of the system to properly record what was submitted.

“I am not seeing a fault as yet,” Manickchand told reporters at the sidelines of an event on Thursday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre in Georgetown.

Further, she explained that an “ungraded” result means that there was a problem with the submission of the SBA and not that the students did not submit those SBAs.

Queen’s College in Georgetown and Cotton Field Secondary in Region Two are among the schools that have so far recorded ungraded results.

And Manickchand said that the ministry had spent the past 12 hours engaging all schools to ensure that the preliminary results “look like what we expect them to look like”.

Last year, all of the 3,000 queries raised about the results given for some Guyanese candidates were resolved. And Manickchand said this resulted in over 3,000 changes made to results.

Meanwhile, for this year’s exams, CXC would have introduced a number of flexibilities to address the issues faced by the COVID-19 pandemic. CXC reduced the requirements for the SBAs by as much as 50 per cent. The submission of SBAs was also delayed for six weeks.

Additionally, topics for the exams were released six weeks before and students further had the option to defer sitting the exams until next year if they were not confident of performing well. But a majority of Guyanese students wrote the exams this year.

This year, candidates will be able to access their results online from Friday evening. Additionally, if students and candidates still have concerns beyond those raised by the Ministries of Education, they have until November 15 to raise those queries or concerns.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2021/10/15/failure-of-cxc-system-resulted-in-ungraded-results-teachers-students-not-at-fault/

Sarena Aruna Razak, a Queen’s College student, gained the most Grade One passes at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations.

Razak scored 19 Grade One passes, two Grade Two passes and one Grade Three pass.

This was announced by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Friday at the National Centre for Educational Research and Development (NCERD) in Kingston, Georgetown.

It is important to note that the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) is still engaging a review process, so Manickchand cautioned that students’ results may change.

Earlier at the forum, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Dr. Marcel Hutson noted that some 9,808 candidates wrote the CSEC examination from secondary schools and private centres across Guyana.

Some 75 per cent of Guyanese students recorded Grades One to Three passes; this is higher than the regional average of 66 per cent. At the earlier announcement of the region’s results, it was noted that Guyanese students topped 20 of the 33 subjects written at the CSEC examinations.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2021/11/05/qc-girl-is-csec-top-performer-with-19-grade-ones/

Guyana has recorded improved pass rates at the general and technical level following the results received from CXC for the 2020 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE), according to Chief Education Officer (CEO), Dr Marcel Hutson.

Dr Hutson, while speaking at the announcement of CSEC and CAPE results on Wednesday at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) in Kingston, Georgetown, highlighted that a total of 12,009 candidates were registered for the 2020 CSEC Examinations.

“An analysis of the 2020 results revealed that the overall pass rate at the general and technical proficiencies for Grades One to Three (passes) was 75.99 per cent,” the CEO said, adding: “The overall pass rate has improved from 2019 where a pass rate of 73 per cent was attained.”

Importantly, the subject areas of Mathematics and English – which are necessary for matriculation – have recorded improved performances. Grades One to Three passes in English Language (also called English A) increased marginally from 77 per cent to 77.91 in 2020.

English Literature (English B), on the other hand, recorded a massive increase moving from 58.1 per cent in 2019 to 78.03 per cent in 2020.

Mathematics also recorded a small increase, moving from 43 per cent in 2019 to 48.66 per cent in 2020.

Other subjects which recorded increased performances include: Integrated Science, Physics, Chemistry, Textile, Clothing and Fashion, Visual Arts, Biology, French, Economics, Industrial Technology (Electrical), Industrial Technology (Building), Family and Resource Management, Food, Nutrition and Health, and Agricultural Science (Single Award).

Contrastingly, there were 11 subject areas that recorded a decline in performance. These include: Agricultural Science (Double Award), Caribbean History, Information Technology, Office Administration, Principles of Accounts, Religious Education, Social Studies, Spanish, Human and Social Biology, Additional Mathematics and Technical Drawing.

Meanwhile, eight subject areas recorded stable performance. These are: Geography, Music, Principles of Business, Theatre Arts, Electronic Document Preparation and Management, Physical Education and Sports, Portuguese and Industrial Technology (Mechanical).

INCREASES AT CAPE

Meanwhile, Dr Hutson also related that there were 853 candidates from 15 schools, including five private centres, who wrote CAPE in 2020.

At the CAPE level, he said that there was a marginal increase in the pass rate, moving from 93 per cent in 2019 to 93.16 per cent in 2020.

Aside from Caribbean Studies, Communication Studies and Integrated Mathematics, the subjects written at this level were double unit subjects. Generally, Unit One is written in the first year of CAPE while Unit Two is written in the second year.

Additionally, at the CAPE level, a pass is a grade recorded between Grades One to Five as opposed to CSEC, where a pass is any grade recorded between Grades One to Three.

Cognisant of this, Dr Hutson related that there were 33 units in which 100 per cent passes were recorded. Caribbean and Communication studies both recorded a greater than 95 per cent pass. Further, in another 30 units, the pass rate was 75 per cent or higher.

“A slight decline was recorded in Integrated Mathematics, from 83.85 per cent in 2019 to 82.14 per cent in 2020,” Dr Hutson said too.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2021/05/19/guyana-records-improved-pass-rates-at-csec-cape/

‘Quiz Me’, a new online platform that will allow pupils to practise examination-type questions and receive answers immediately, was launched by the Ministry of Education on Friday at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD).

At the launch, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, related that this year’s pupils, who will be sitting the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), are doing so while Guyana’s education delivery is challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This Grade Six (examination) is very difficult to not sit the exam and it is very difficult because we consulted with parents and teachers repeatedly and they said that the fairest thing to do would be to sit the (examinations),” the minister said.

In response to this, however, she noted that a string of interventions was made to allow pupils to cope. One intervention was issuing worksheets and textbooks to all pupils preparing for the assessment, slated to be written on August 4 and 5.

One concern that was raised following the issuing of the worksheets was that answer keys did not accompany those sheets. As such, parents found it difficult to help their children answer the questions. This, the minister explained, led to the creation of the Quiz Me platform.

This platform can be found at: education.gov.gy/quizme and it currently has just under 50 quizzes, primarily for Grade Six pupils. The quizzes are organised in four subject areas: Mathematics, English, Social Studies and Science.

Importantly, it was highlighted that the quiz platform, like the rest of the Education Ministry’s website, is zero-rated by the major internet providers in Guyana. This means that Guyanese can access the website without using data from their internet plan or without even having an active data plan.

Meanwhile, Head of Information Systems at the Ministry of Education, Phil Mingo, related that the platform was designed to be responsive to various types of devices used by students, teachers and parents.

“This means that it does not matter whether the end-user has a mobile phone, tablet, laptop or desktop – old or new, with the access to the internet, the Quiz Me platform can still be used and responds appropriately to the type of devices used. This is also important for users who may have some level of visual impairment,” Mr Mingo noted.

He also indicated that while the platform only offers multiple-choice questions now, other formats of questioning such as matching and true and false type questions will be added.

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2021/05/26/quiz-me-to-boost-pupils-preparation-for-ngsa/

Face-to-face schooling got underway on Monday at the state-of-the-art Westminster Secondary School in Region Three.

The school was completed in April of this year and can accommodate 1000 students along with 60 teachers, a release from the Ministry of Education said.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand who visited the school to interact with the students and teachers on their first day, said that the school which is located in the Parfaite Harmonie community on the West Bank of Demerara is well poised to deliver well-rounded students.

The release said that  Manickchand engaged with students who previously attended Dolphin Secondary (George-town) and Covent Garden Secondary (East Bank of Demerara) among other schools.

The opening of the school also enabled  the closure of three secondary departments or ‘Primary Tops’ in primary schools in the region, specifically at the Goed Fortuin Primary, La Grange Primary and Windsor Forest Primary.

The Minister noted that children are usually placed in Primary Tops after they write the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and there is no space remaining in any of the secondary schools in the region. These children remain in primary school but are taught secondary level work.

According to the release, there are eleven departments at the school: Allied Arts, Agricultural Science, Business Studies, English, Home Economics, Industrial Technology, Information Technology, Mathematics, Modern Languages, Science, and Social Studies. Each department is equipped with trained teachers. The school also has a permanent Welfare Officer, Azharuddin Zahaur.

In addition to the CSEC programme, the school will be offering the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) programme.

The school also has a Conference Room, Reading and Research Centre, Library, Language, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Agricultural Science Laboratories. In addition, the school has thirty-two classrooms, a dance studio, an Audio/Visual, Music Room and a large auditorium. Within the next three years, the school would be offering subjects for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination to students of Region 3, the release said.

The release stated that the school was opened for the first time on September 6, 2021, for online learning with Tulsidai Raghubansi as the Headteacher and  Lisa Henry-Aaron as the Deputy Headteacher along with a team of fifteen senior teachers and thirty -four  junior teachers.

Over the recent months, these teachers were trained to use different digital facilities such as Google Classrooms, Google Meet, and Google Teams to deliver online classes. Teachers were also exposed to EMIS, Microsoft Excel and Google Drive.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/10/14/news/guyana/school-starts-at-brand-new-westminster-secondary/

With the Education Ministry and the Health Ministry rolling out their vaccination drive for children above the age of 12, Education Minister Priya Manickchand revealed today that parents who opt not to send their children to school when classes resume on the 6th September can do the homeschooling of the children themselves.

“Parents will be allowed to home school or keep your child at home but would have the responsibility of ensuring they are engaged. The Ministry will make available all it has by way of resources on its website”, the Education Minister said on a Facebook post.

The Minister explained that it is not mandatory for children to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but she is encouraging parents to give consent for the vaccination of their child to pave the way for their return to the classroom.

It was also explained that schools will be allowed to come up with their own reopening plan in consultation with the parents. Schools will decide the days and hours of classes.

“Each school will have a different individualized plan that is informed by the PTA. So your plan is coming from you, except you don’t attend and contribute to your PTA. If you don’t attend and/or contribute to your PTA, I encourage you always to be engaged there. It is important. Plans can look like the entire school returning wearing masks because 100% of parents and teachers are vaccinated”, Manickchand said.

The Minister said it is important for parents to be fully informed of all the plans for the reopening of schools from the 6th of September.

The Ministry has already indicated that unvaccinated teachers will have to produce a negative COVID-19 PCR test result weekly or be marked absent.

The Education Ministry is coming under lots of criticism for its decision to reopen schools in early September even as the country is dealing with another surge in new COVID-19 cases.

Source: https://newssourcegy.com/news/parents-can-opt-to-homeschool-their-children-education-minister/

As the government adjusts education delivery to a pandemic sensitive modality, it has allocated a whopping $60.6 billion in the 2021 budget to support education delivery.

Finance Minister, Dr Ashni Singh told the National Assembly during his budget presentation Friday that this is to support the delivery of world-class education in Guyana.

He said the government intends to equip all nursery to secondary schools with the necessary resources, including trained and highly qualified teachers.  He announced the construction of new secondary schools in Regions Four, Six and Nine with upgrades to be done to schools in other regions.

To this end, $5.2 billion has been allocated for the construction and rehabilitation of education facilities. The University of Guyana will receive $3.3 billion to finance the operation of its two campuses in Regions Four and Six.

Another $884 million was allocated to equip and re-tool technical vocational training centres. As the government pushes ahead with its Online Training Institute, which hopes to deliver 20,000 scholarships over the next five years, $1 billion was set aside in the 2021 Budget to support online learning.

Dr. Singh complained about the state of the public education system, explaining that when the PPP/C government took office, the education sector left much to be desired.

He said the education sector was plagued by inadequate supervision and lack of accountability; something that must be reversed immediately.

Dr. Singh also promised improvements at the teachers training college – the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE).

Source: https://newsroom.gy/2021/02/12/budget-2021-60-6b-for-education-sector-new-secondary-schools-to-be-built/

A Venezuelan student who attended Crane Primary School is among the top ten National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) performers for Region Three.

The Ministry of Education on Saturday said Emily Vaamonde-Beria copped 515 marks at this year’s NGSA, emerging as the top student at the Crane Primary School, West Coast of Demerara (WCD). She has been awarded a place at Queen’s College as a result.

According to a Ministry release, the 12-year-old, whose parents are Guyanese, is Venezuelan by birth and moved to Guyana in 2018 along with her parents and younger sibling. Her only exposure to the English language before her migration was through her parents. However she quickly adjusted and even became a translator for other students like herself. “It was a bit hard with the language barrier and to understand some of the subjects,” she said. She also said that she expected to do well but she was surprised at her placing among the top performers.

“I feel very happy that I could’ve done so well. It was my expectation, but I did not expect to do so well,” Emily said after learning of her results in October. 

Her father, Brayan Vaamande, said, “We are very proud and happy. We know we would have done good because we always give her the support and encourage her to work very hard in her education.”  Vashti Paul, head teacher of Crane Primary School, on the West Coast of Demerara, said that Emily became the student that teachers would ask to communicate with other Venezuelan students. She added that the student was always happy to assist.

“She excels at everything she embarks upon, intentionally or unintentionally. She is self-confident and self-motivated. She is a well-rounded pupil, involved in academic as well as co-curricular activities. Throughout her years at the Crane Primary School, she has always been the pupil that achieves the highest percentage in her class,” the teacher was quoted as saying. 

The student, who shares the sixth place spot in Region Three with Yushini Kumar of Genesis Early Childhood, said that she wants to become a lawyer to assist other migrants with relocating to the country. She has obtained her citizenship and said “I would like to be a lawyer to help people like me, fight for their freedom and justice; some are awaiting their citizenship while some are waiting to get into schools.” 

The Ministry of Education in June 2021 established its Risk Management and Migrant Support Section (RM&MSS) to help students who migrate to Guyana. The Unit is responsible for placing, monitoring, and supporting children in crisis-stricken communities, along with the integration of migrant children into the Guyanese society. The Unit collaborates with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the Ministries of Human Services and Social Security, Health, and other stakeholders. 

The RM&MSS aims to ensure equitable access to education and ensure that children affected by crises can access a safe and productive learning environment, the release said. Additionally, the Coordinator of the RM&MSS, Rampattie Prashad-Bisnauth has said that the Department of Education, Region Three assisted several students with the translation of documents through the Catholic Church, while visits were made to Regions 1, 3, 4 and 7 to assess the problems migrant children are encountering in regards to access to education. 

Prashad-Bisnauth said that the RM&MSS is gathering data to create an active database to determine where the children are residing and how assistance can be provided. “Data guides policy implementation and projects, hence, it’s important that we know where these children are and how the Ministry of Education can help with integrating them in schools and providing support,” she added. 

The release added that the RM&MSS collaborates with all Departments of Education across the eleven education districts. It provides data on migrants (not limited to Venezuelans) admitted in each school across the regions. Using the information provided, the Unit visits schools and communities to assess the needs of the migrants and provide support services as is required. 

The unit can be contacted on 604-1316.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2021/11/14/news/guyana/venezuelan-student-is-west-coast-schools-top-ngsa-performer/

Teachers across the country are set to benefit from a Ministry of Education Teachers’ Welfare and Support Programme which will see over 150 companies partnering with the Ministry to offer discounts and special deals to the nation’s teachers.

The project was officially launched today by the Ministry of Education. It was explained that benefits range from health insurance to internet services.

Telecommunications provider GTT is onboard with the initiative and under the plan, teachers who sign up for GTT’s Fiber internet service will be offered free installation.

Other companies are offering discount vouchers for purchases.

To benefit from the project, teachers have to sign up through the Ministry of Education.

Education Specialist and former Chief Education Officer Olato Sam is spearheading the project. He said he hopes it will not only lift the spirits of teachers but lead to better productivity.

“Teachers play a critical role, in the development of our nation. It is our expectation at the Ministry of Education that the teachers will go about their responsibilities with a level of commitment and dedication that will ensure the delivery of the highest quality of education across this nation. The well-being therefore of our teachers plays a critical role in ensuring this”, Mr. Sam said.

He said the hope of the project is to lend much-needed support to the nation’s teachers while thanking them for the work they do.

“This initiative encompasses a comprehensive approach towards improving the overall circumstances under which our teachers practice in this noble profession,” Mr. Sam said.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand said the project is aimed at uplifting the well-being of the nation’s teachers.

“My commitment to you today here is that we will support your professional development, fully, you have my promise on that. We will hold your hands through any obstacles you believe you have in the classroom. We will try to fix it strategically and timely, not four years down the line. We will try to fix the resource deficit.”    

Manickchand said teachers should sign on to the programme and reap the benefits as they are expected to have a long-term impact.

“This is not a response, this is genuine interest in checking to see what we can do for you so that you(teachers) can do your work when you get into the classroom and you will see much, much more of that”, she said.

The launching of the project today comes at a time when the Ministry of Education and the Guyana Teachers Union are at loggerheads over the government’s vaccination policy which has resulted in a number of unvaccinated teachers being locked out of their schools.

Source: https://newssourcegy.com/news/education-ministry-launches-welfare-and-benefits-programme-for-teachers/