Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, yesterday said that the Grades Two, Four and Nine assessments will not be administered because it would be impractical to assess students at this time.

Following the Education Ministry’s press release informing the public of the Ministry’s plan to cancel the administration of the National Grades Two, Four and Nine Assessments for the academic year September 2019 to July 2020, this newspaper contacted Manickchand who said that the assessments which are usually used for evaluating whether the students have grasped all concepts taught during the school year, will not be written this year because the Ministry finds it to be impractical since a lot would have been missed while the students are at home.

Students have not entered school buildings since they were locked down in March to safeguard against contraction and spread of the novel coronavirus.

“It’s not only about them gathering to write the exam but also these are children who have not been in school so what exactly are we assessing them on? It doesn’t make sense to try to do a diagnostic test that’s supposed to be testing you on work that you couldn’t cover because you were out of school. Without the syllabus completed the students can’t be tested… It doesn’t make sense just doing it so that we can check a box. That can’t be done that’s not how we operate. It’s not a robot system,” Manickchand said when asked about the decision to withhold the assessment.

She explained that while some persons might be wondering how this decision will affect the students who receive subsidies based on their results from the Grade Nine assessment, they have nothing to worry about since that can be determined in Grade Ten. She also reminded that this assessment does not affect students in any way aside from knowing what has been learnt and what hasn’t. She said that students would still be undergoing the assessment when schools physically reopen, as that is the inevitable and that this will be done at all levels.

Manickchand noted that it is mandatory that when schools do reopen, the system is aware of where the students are academically.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2020/09/04/news/guyana/no-assessments-for-grades-two-four-and-nine-ministry/

    

The Ministry of Education will be providing all teachers, students and cleaners returning to school with care packages containing masks, hand sanitizers, face shields and other items to ensure they remain safe before, during and after sessions.

This was told to parents and teachers during virtual meetings held from October 26 – 30 by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand. According to a statement from the Ministry on Friday, over 5,000 parents and teachers were engaged on the examinations and the reopening of schools.

Students who will be writing the 2021 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations will be the first to return to the classrooms.

A date has not yet been named but the Ministry said “this will be done soon so that students can return to the classroom and begin working to be prepared to write their examinations next year.”

The Government of Guyana has given the greenlight for the Ministry to reopen schools under strict COVID-19 guidelines from November.

The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has already published dates for the writing of the exams.

The Ministry said many of the School Based Assessments (SBA) and Internal Assessments (IA) require practical activities that can only be done in the school setting.

“Therefore, to complete the syllabi and these assessments, the best option for children to prepare for the examinations is to return to school,” the statement noted.

The Minister, during the week engagements, urged parents to stress the importance of wearing masks to their children as well as observing other measures such as hand washing, sanitizing and social distancing.

According to the Ministry’s statement, she has also informed teachers that there will be no “one size fits all” approach to how a school functions in preparing students. She said that schools will be given the liberty to create an efficient timetable to prepare its students. Schools that have difficulty doing this will be supported by the Ministry to get it done.

Meanwhile, the Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson defended the Ministry’s move to reopen schools in a phased manner.

He noted that many students have not had any engagement since March 2020 when schools closed and the Ministry is concerned about the future of its students.

The CEO was quoted saying that many students wish to apply to Universities locally and abroad, and with these tertiary institutions remaining open across the globe, Guyana’s schools cannot remain closed as it will be a disservice to students.

He said that the plan to reopen schools for the examination level students was not hatched out of the air but is based on research done by UNICEF, UNESCO and from experiences by other countries.

Further, the CEO said internationally, several countries have reopened schools including Jamaica which has begun a phased reopening.

“All of these institutions are functioning under the same guidelines that our students here will have to follow. These include the wearing of masks, social distancing, the frequent washing of hands, daily temperature checks and ensuring learning is done in properly ventilated classrooms,” the Ministry said.

According to the Ministry, many schools in Guyana have already begun face-to-face teaching in an effort to engage their children effectively.

Already, work is being done and in most cases completed, at schools across Guyana to ensure they are ready to welcome the examination students back into the classroom under the safest conditions.

SOURCE: https://newsroom.gy/2020/10/30/care-packages-for-students-teachers-as-schools-set-to-reopen/

The Ministry of Education is due to make a decision on sanctioning teachers over the failure to submit students’ School Based Assessments (SBAs) scores to the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) for this year’s regional exams after the regional body has completed requested reviews.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Saturday told reporters that CXC has said that it will be done with reviewing Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) results for the ministry in about two weeks.

Manickchand explained that the Council has indicated that while it was somewhat lenient with reviewing grades for those students who had partial grades sent in, those without will not be reviewed. She further explained that these students were affected by negligence and that cannot be allowed to happen and the ministry is taking the omission very seriously.

Manickchand said that she has been in personal constant contact with the Council to ensure, as far as possible, that the students are not at a disadvantage when they didn’t do anything wrong. Added to that, she said CXC has related that some of the information sent to it by Guyana was incomplete, as a result of missing cover pages and scores, resulting in them being automatically listed as ungraded.

To resolve this, she said that once it could be determined that the scores and completed SBAs were submitted before the deadline, CXC is willing to review. This is the reason some 11 of 20 schools that requested to have ungraded marks rechecked were awarded marks.

As for when a public announcement will be made of the CSEC and CAPE results, Manickchand said, “We usually give an announcement that goes along the line of showing who has the most [Grade Ones] at this point. We didn’t this year for obvious reasons.” She added that the ministry doesn’t actually know who the top student is. She explained that while every year students review their grades, this year the top student might change given the circumstances and especially since students are “up in arms” about their grades, which could change. For this reason, the ministry plans to wait until CXC determines the grades and makes its official announcement regarding grades on a regional scale.

On September 22nd, CXC released results for those who sat examinations for CAPE and CSEC but many students were dissatisfied with the grades awarded. The Ministry of Education intervened on behalf of the students as their grades dropped the nationwide average. After investigations by both the Ministry and CXC, it was revealed that SBA scores were not submitted by some teachers and the minister said that the ministry did not notice the oversight.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2020/11/03/news/guyana/sanctions-over-teachers-failure-to-submit-sba-scores-awaiting-cxc-reviews-manickchand/

More than 160,000 school children across the country will now receive a $4000 uniform and school supplies voucher to assist with the purchasing of school supplies and uniforms.

The Ministry of Education’s programme was launched in Region Five (Mahaica – Berbice) last Friday by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand.

The vouchers can be redeemed at stores across the country. It cannot be redeemed for cash but must purchase what it is intended for.  Vouchers can be uplifted at schools on dates and times provided by individual schools.

During Minister Manickchand’s visit to Region Five on Friday, vouchers were distributed at the No. 8 Primary, Abary Primary, Mahaicony Primary and Nursery, Dora Point Nursery, Gordon Table Primary, Mora Point Primary, Karamat Primary, Mortice Primary and Nursery, Strathcapmbell Primary and Nursery, Perth Nursery, West End Nursery, Biaboo Primary and District No. 10 Nursery and Primary Schools.

At these locations, 573 vouchers were distributed to primary school students while 160 pupils at the nursery level received vouchers.

The PPP/C government increased the voucher from $2000 to $4000, representing a 100% increase.

In brief remarks, Minister Manickchand told parents who were present to receive the vouchers, that she is pleased that they can get some financial assistance.

She said at a time when the world and the country are confronting a pandemic the vouchers are going to be extremely helpful.

SOURCE: https://newsroom.gy/2020/11/15/distribution-begins-for-4000-uniform-school-supplies-voucher/

Two days after the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) released results for 2020 examinations, Guyana’s Ministry of Education has vehemently registered its dissatisfaction with the Council as it relates to the apparent poor grading of students.

The Ministry in a statement on Thursday said it is concerned that there seem to be discrepancies with the grades for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

“Students in Guyana and across the region are currently traumatized and disenchanted, something we cannot accept. This Ministry of Education will leave no stone unturned and will pursue solutions with CXC until there is an acceptable resolution to the matter,” the statement from the Education Ministry said.

The discrepancy, the Ministry explained, occurred in particular subject areas to students across the country.

“The Honourable Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand has since spoken to the Registrar of CXC and has expressed her concerns. That conversation will be followed up by a letter addressing the many complaints and a demand to have them addressed,” the statement added.

The Ministry said it received complaints from students, parents and teachers, backed by statistics and those complaints include discrepancies in teachers’ projected grades and CXC final awards being significant in the results of many students.

“There are also cases where maximum SBA scores having been attained by students who believe strongly that they answered the multiple-choice questions, many of which were questions repeated from previous years, correctly and yet they received poor grades,” the statement added.

Additionally, students of schools that have been historically performing optimally in these examinations have been awarded poor grades at this year’s CSEC and CAPE results which represent a stark deviation from the norm. Nothing else in those schools have changed including the teachers.

The Ministry said too that the same students in year one CAPE who did excellently, scored poorly in year two.

It was also found that schools which submitted all of the SBAs within the timeframe and received confirmation emails from CXC, received an ungraded result in some subject areas while there were unacceptable grades for Integrated Mathematics, Pure Maths papers one and two and Caribbean Studies at many schools.

“We are still receiving more complaints and gathering information. The Minister of Education is going to aggressively pursue this matter with CXC in the best interest of the nation’s children,” the statement added.

SOURCE: https://newsroom.gy/2020/09/24/major-discrepancies-prompt-guyanese-officials-to-ask-cxc-to-review-change-students-grades/

The first Secondary School in one of the country’s largest housing scheme, La Parfaite Harmonie, West Bank Demerara (WBD), is set to be completed by the end of November 2020.

The $1B Westminister Secondary School is 84% completed according to a statement from the Ministry of Education. It was set to be completed at the end of January of this year but was plagued with several issues.

During a recent visit to the site, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said she will be paying close attention to the project since a whole generation of students had started and finished high school since the building of the school was first identified as a necessity.

The contract was inked on October 1, 2018, while construction began on October 18 of the same year by R. Bassoo and Sons Construction Inc. as the constructing company. The consulting firm is Deen and Partners/ SRKN Engineering.

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The Minister is looking forward to the completion of the school for the benefit of the children it will serve, the Ministry said in its statement.

The construction of the school is being funded by the World Bank through the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP) which began during the first quarter of 2015. The project aims to achieve universal secondary education.

Minister Manickchand was accompanied by Project Coordinator of the Guyana Secondary Education Improvement Project (GSEIP) Jimmy Bhojedat and the Regional Education Officer (Region Three) Ms Annesta Douglas.

When completed, the structure will be a model school that meets international standards, according to the Ministry.

The school will house 1000 students. The new school will cater for the growing population in Region Three with the emergence of a number of new housing schemes in that region.

It will also see the reduction of secondary departments in Primary schools (Primary Tops) in the region.

Students will be drawn from LaGrange, L’Aventure, Goed Fortuin and other areas within that catchment area, the Ministry said.

The Westminister Secondary school will have as part of its outfit, classrooms that caters for students with disabilities.

There will be modern Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) departments for Home Economics, Home Management and Clothing and textile. Added to the aforementioned departments, there will be an Information Technology, Mathematics, Language and Audio Visual laboratories. The school will also house Biology, Chemistry and Physics labs.

A Unit of Allied Arts, a modern Library, a multi-purpose hall and a modern administration block will complete this spanking new structure.

SOURCE: https://newsroom.gy/2020/10/06/westminister-secondary-school-set-for-november-completion/

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Tuesday said that Guyana has received grades for subjects at 14 of 20 institutions after getting free-of-cost reviews.

The Minister explained that most of the 20 schools that had “ungraded” for certain subjects were due to the fact that the teachers and the Central Ministry failed in ensuring that the SBAs reached CXC or reached them correctly. “It was not the students’ fault; it was the way that they were delivered and submitted and that will not happen again so we have to be very clear on processes going forward,” she said.

While CXC has decided to reduce the cost of grade reviews from US$30 to US$15, she said the Ministry of Education succeeded in securing reviews for students from several schools across Guyana free of cost. “We have requested school-wide reviews and reviews for individual students once the school indicated to us that they believe that student could perform differently and those reviews have all been done for free,” she said.

Concerning the 2020 results, the Minister of Education indicated that CXC needed to share some of the blame because of the changes that had been made due to the coronavirus pandemic. “I don’t believe anything crookish was done if we want to speak frankly and I don’t even believe that there were mistakes made. I think what happened was that there was a shock to the system across the region…and that was not properly considered in the sitting of the exams and in the setting of the exams,” she said.

Ms. Manickchand said the lessons learnt from the regionwide concerns about the CSEC and CAPE grades is that no changes that are remarkably different should be done without warning and extensive training to teachers, students and parents. “Going forward, we have asked CXC to be very clear with how they mark, what is required of our teachers when they are reviewing SBAs, how it is they are weighting subjects and not just a vague that ‘it’s on the website’. Every teacher needs to know,” she said.

The Chairman of the CXC Board, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles this week cautioned teachers across the region against creating false expectations by telling students that their SBA grades were the final awards. CXC Registrar Dr. Wayne Wesley said based on what the 100 percent moderation of SBAs, due to COVID-19,  uncovered this year the regional examining body would continue to do so.

Minister Manickchand said Guyanese teachers would be held accountable for being too lenient in marking School Based Assessments (SBAs), even as she endorsed a decision by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to moderate 100 percent of  those assignments.

“If we are marking accurately, then why should we care if it’s a hundred percent or five percent. It’s supposed to be done to the same standard all the time as though it will always be a hundred percent moderation so I do (support it),” she said.

Manickchand praised the many Guyanese teachers for performing exceptionally well in teaching the CSEC and CAPE subjects, but she said many of their colleagues’ performance would come under scrutiny after “serious training and serious monitoring” by the Ministry of Education. “We have to start holding our service providers to a high level which is supposed to be expected. We are talking about people’s futures here and we can’t allow sloppy work,” she said.

She said Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson was completing a system, in collaboration with the Assistant Chief Education Officer (Secondary) and the Examinations Division, that would ensure high quality of marking and sticking to the timetable to ensure schools make their submissions.

Students, teachers and parents in Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago had protested the grades that had been awarded for CSEC and CAPE exams, saying that they had not been in keeping with performance trends and expectations.

SOURCE: https://demerarawaves.com/2020/10/20/guyana-gets-cxc-grades-for-subjects-at-14-schools-after-free-reviews/

Twenty schools that received ungraded results in 15 subject areas at this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) directly resulted from the teachers’ actions.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand on Tuesday said the teachers “failed in making sure those School Based Assessments (SBAs) reached Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) or reach them correctly.”

“So it was not the students’ fault, it was the way it was delivered and submitted,” Manickchand told reporters at the sidelines of an event on Tuesday at State House.

Going forward, the Ministry will be holding teachers more accountable and at a higher level for their students’ performance.

Manickchand said teachers will also be involved in “serious” training and “monitoring” from the Ministry.

“We are talking about people’s future here and we cannot allow sloppiness. We have children here who should have been going in colleges and universities and we have them stalled up now so this is a huge impact,” Manickchand stated.

Of the 20 schools to date, 14 have received exam results.

The Ministry, in a statement on October 02, listed the schools as: Port Kaituma Secondary, Patentia Secondary, Annandale Secondary, New Amsterdam Secondary, Paramakatoi Secondary, Harmony Secondary, Carmel Secondary, Central High School, The Bishops’ High School, Leguan Secondary School and Mahaicony Secondary School.

CXC recently completed an internal review to determine the reason behind the region-wide outcry over discrepancies with the 2020 examination results.

During a media briefing on Sunday last, Chairman of CXC, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, maintained that the modified approach at this year’s exams was educationally and technically thorough.

Minister Manickchand on Tuesday agreed with the Chairman and said, “I don’t believe anything crookish was done, I don’t believe they were mistakes made, I think what happened there was a shock to the system educationally across the region and that was not properly considered in the sitting of the exams and in the setting of the exams.”

The shock the Minister is referring to is the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guyana has requested schoolwide reviews and individual reviews for students once the school indicated that the students could have performed differently.

“Those reviews have been done for free, so if school felt that a student could have done better and they told us about that student we requested that review,” Manickchand said.

The Minister explained the lesson learnt from CXC is that there must be no change to local exams in Guyana without warning and extensive training for teachers and students.

“Going forward we have asked CXC to be very clear with how they mark, what is required of teachers when they are reviewing SBAs and how is it they are weighting subjects.”

Manickchand also supports the 100% moderation of SBAs for next year’s exams.

Schools or students can submit individual requests for review of their grades. The deadline for this submission was extended to November 04.

Additionally, CXC has slashed the price for requests for review by 50%.

SOURCE: https://newsroom.gy/2020/10/20/teachers-failure-to-submit-sbas-correctly-led-to-ungraded-csec-cape-results-edu-minister/

Students, who attend schools with dormitory facilities, will now be required to isolate in the dorms for the rest of the school term or be transferred to a secondary school nearest to them, as the Education Ministry seeks to minimise the spread of COVID-19.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand made the announcement on Tuesday during a meeting with parents of non-residential students at President’s College (PC).

The school, located at Golden Grove, East Coast Demerara, is one of the premier secondary schools in the country. The decision to have all students live in the dorms comes a day after eight students at the school tested positive for COVID-19.

The students will not be allowed to leave the school during the term; prior to the pandemic, they were allowed to leave the campus on weekends and holidays, but this will no longer be allowed as part of the Ministry’s measures to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

There are 139 residential students who have already returned to the dorms at President’s College and a total of 151 are listed as non-residential students. The non-residential students live along the East Coast or in close proximity to the school and would normally travel every day to school via public or private transportation.

But while these students will have to remain on campus, there are 23 teachers from the school who will be travelling from their homes to campus; transportation will be provided for the teachers by President’s College.

“Dorms schools are different because if one person gets infected and we don’t know, you can spread it to the whole dorm and we end up in trouble.

“For this school and other dorms school, we have to take a different approach and the approach is that non-residents students have to stay in or we can transfer you only for this period to a school close to your home,” Minister Manickchand said to parents and students.

She made it clear that the non-residential students pose a risk of infecting the students in the dorms.

All students will be required to do a COVID-19 test before entering the dorms and if negative, that student will not leave the school until December 18, when the school term ends.

A quarantine area has also been set up at President’s College, while students await their COVID-19 results. Meanwhile, the Education Minister assured that the educators at the school will practice all safety measures in order to curb the spread of the disease.

“The staff is masked up, tested and picked up only in our transportation and with the students, there is not much intermingling outside of the school, you can visit your children but you will not be able to hug up and so on,” Minister Manickchand said.

Meanwhile, the students during the meeting inquired about the continuation of online learning at home but the Minister explained that it would be difficult for teachers at the school to engage students in the classroom as well as online.

But, according to Manickchand, if a large number of PC students decide to do online learning, then they can be accommodated at other schools which are currently engaged in full online classes, for example, Queen’s College.

Schools across Guyana reopened on Monday to cater for students in grades 10, 11 and 12, who are preparing for the 2021 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

The government is also hoping that with the reopening of schools, the long-lasting implications of COVID-19 can be minimised.

“We have learnt from studies around the world that the more we keep your children out of school, the more they will suffer from learning loss, that means they will forget things they knew, they will lose skills they have and they are more likely to drop out,” the Minister said.

The Ministry also made a commitment to support parents in whatever decision they take during this time, whether to assist with the transition to dorms life or a transfer for the students.

“Whichever option you chose, we will support it. There is no right or wrong, this is a personal decision you have to make for what’s good for your family.”

There is also a stringent COVID-19 health plan for the entire school to ensure the health and safety of every child and employee.  While a number of parents have agreed to allow their children to stay in the dorms others have opted to for a transfer.

“Region Four is a nest of COVID-19, we are looking to protect our children; those who have to travel in public transportation, you are in trouble, conductors and drivers and even passengers travel without a face mask,” one parent lamented

SOURCE: https://newsroom.gy/2020/11/10/all-dorms-students-now-required-to-isolate-on-campus-or-be-transferred-to-another-school/

A 34-year-old Guyanese of Goedverwagting on the East Coast of Demerara has created a board game that tests players’ knowledge of Guyana. The game, titled ‘Real #1 Guyanese,’ incorporates Guyana’s Arts and Culture, Science and Nature, History and Geography.

It will go on sale next week and will also be introduced in Guyana by the Ministry of Education.

Linden Cave on Wednesday handed over his creation to the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand where he said his aim was to conceptualise a learning initiative that is informative and engaging at the same time.

According to a statement, Manickchand said the Ministry will be purchasing a quantity of the game to be used in schools.

She also said that a game of this nature will serve the education system well and it can only be advantageous for this to be introduced into the classrooms. Not only will the game augment the traditional teaching Minister Manickchand opined, but it will bring about variety in terms of how content is delivered to students.

The Education Minister said what is even more satisfying is the fact that Cave is using his knowledge and creativity and contributing to his financial independence. The game is estimated to take about 30-45 minutes to be completed. It utilizes a set of cards with facts, a board with icons and other additional pieces that forms part of the game.

Added to that, the Minister was quoted saying the new curriculum will be focused on delivering content in more engaging ways and therefore, more innovative ideas would be welcome.

The Goedverwagting resident said that soon he will be introducing two additional games into the market.

These will both look at things Guyanese with one being a Creolese Card game, where the clue on the card has to be interpreted in creolese.

The other game will test players’ knowledge on people, places and things that are unique to Guyana.

SOURCE: https://newsroom.gy/2020/12/02/young-guyanese-creates-trivia-board-game/