Amid increasing violence at public schools, Education Minister Priya Manickchand said the Ministry would strengthen its welfare programme in schools across the country.
Speaking at a press conference on Friday, Manickchand said more welfare officers would be trained by high-level officials from across the Caribbean, noting that a team of 13 supporting masters are currently in the country undergoing training.
Manickchand noted that since the initiative was the first of its kind, they may not be able to pull off everything on time and as expected, but would work towards perfection when addressing welfare matters within the schools.
“Again, we will not be able to provide all the services and respond to all the welfare cases as expected. We have to find other ways of having the country band together to address the issues of inter-personal violence, of stranger violence, of resolving issues violently, so we really need everybody on board, the Church, the Mandir, the Mosque, the NGOs, the schools and even the parents in the home,” Manickchand said.
In addition, the Minister noted that of the 13 persons lending their assistance to train the welfare officers, eight were attached to the Education Ministry while the other five were placed to work within the Social Services Ministry. She underscored that the trainers had specific training on young people so local officers would be empowered to deal with issues affecting youths.
No plans to improve security in schools
When asked about measures to be put in place to strengthen the security system within the schools, Manickchand said there were no plans to do so. “You know it will be very hard to provide security personnel to all of our thousands of schools in Guyana. It will be extremely expensive and so we will have to make some hard choices about perhaps which schools will need it most, but no, there are no great plans to increase the amount of security personnel in the schools across the country on a nationwide scale,” the Minister noted.
Literacy remains top of the agenda
The Minister also pointed out that although the Ministry had many important issues to deal with to boost the education sector, literacy remained on the top of the agenda.
“Literacy is an unfolding issue that we are addressing; part of it was to make sure that our children have all the resources like text books and work books and so on. We have started implementing the plans that we have rolled out, in fact one of the major developments is that parents will now be able to go into schools and get updated reports about their child’s performance, especially in literacy as this remains on the top of our agenda,” she added.
Moreover, Manickchand added that this new system would help children to learn faster and also keep parents up-to-date with their child’s performance and reading quality.
DURING remarks at a Ministry of Education press conference held at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) in Kingston, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand announced that the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) would be offering Portuguese at the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC) examinations which are being written in nine territories for the first time in 2016.
The minister explained that the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) would offer Portuguese as a subject at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) in 2017.
“You may recall that it was Guyana’s Ministry of Education that piloted Portuguese formally in the secondary school’s curriculum. It was here that we developed the Curriculum Guides, resource materials, and trained our teachers to deliver this new but increasingly useful language,” Manickchand explained.
In May 2014, under the theme “Eliminating literacy, modernising education and strengthening tolerance”, the Ministry of Education intensified its efforts to have Portuguese taught in all schools across the country. The Ministry aims to further develop the capacity of modern languages’ teachers within the education system. Deputy Chief Education Officer (Development), Ms. Doodmattie Singh explained the pioneering work done by the Ministry to establish Portuguese as a new modern language on the national curriculum, when it initially launched the Portuguese curriculum in six schools in 2013.
Ms. Singh pointed out that an additional 15 schools will now offer Portuguese when the new school year begins in September 2014. The six schools that initially formed part of the launch of Portuguese in Guyana were Queen’s College, The Bishops’ High, Saint Stanislaus College, Saint Roses High, Saint Joseph High and North Georgetown Secondary. The additional 15 schools earmarked to carry Portuguese in 2014 were: Georgetown – Brickdam Secondary, Christ Church Secondary and Central High; Region 3 – Zeeburg Secondary and West Demerara Secondary; Region 4 – Hope Secondary, Annandale Secondary, President’s College and Diamond Secondary; Region 5 – Rosignol Secondary and Bygeval Secondary; Region 8 – Mahdia Secondary; Region 9 – St Ignatius Secondary, and Region 10 – Mackenzie High.
Minister Manickchand emphasised that the launch of this programme is in keeping with the commitment made by the ruling PPP/C Government during its 2011 election campaign, in which its manifesto unquestionably stated that, within the next five years, it would work at “strengthening foreign language teaching, both in the school system, including at the primary school level, and for the public at large, with special emphasis (being placed) on Spanish and Portuguese, reflecting our country’s continental prospects.
The minister said: “This morning, we are fulfilling a part of that promise by preparing ourselves to introduce Portuguese all across this country.”
A team led by Manickchand has had several meetings with the relevant authorities of CXC over the last year, and has made proposals for Portuguese to be included formally as a subject that is offered at the CXC level.
“We are extremely pleased to say our efforts bore fruit, and we are grateful to all the territories who supported our application and proposals to CXC”, Manickchand said.
Although Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, has insisted that there is no backlog of eligible teachers awaiting their duty free concessions for vehicles, word out of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) is that this is simply not the case.
An official disclosure from the Union suggests that not only are there more than 100 teachers who have not received their duty free concessions since 2009, but that the blame for this state of affairs must be placed squarely at the doorstep of the Education Ministry.
The Union’s informed response comes on the heels of comments by Minister Manickchand at a recent press conference, where she labelled the GTU as “less than honest” in its disclosures about the duty free concession situation.
Headteachers and Deputy Headteachers of Grade A and B schools are eligible for duty concessions once they would have served for at least three years and have at least five years remaining.
While the Minister acknowledged that there were some challenges that should not have even materialised, she categorically disputed the claims of GTU President, Mark Lyte, that there are eligible teachers who are yet to receive their duty free concessions. She insisted, too, that the challenges that were had cannot be deemed merely the fault of the Ministry, but the Union itself must also accept some responsibility.
“It is also the executive of the Union’s fault; they are trying to say that it is the Ministry’s fault but this is highly misleading,” said the Minister as she intimated that there were about a dozen teachers who were eligible in 2009. She noted that while their applications were not dealt with immediately they were eventually furnished with their duty free concessions.
However, the Union is prepared to publicise documents to substantiate that more than 100 teachers are yet to receive their duty free concessions.
GTU President Mark Lyte
This publication was in fact privy to a list of more than 100 teachers who have been denied their concessions.
According to the GTU, not only has it not been dishonest on this matter “but we have evidence relating to the date and time when the documents were sent off to the Ministry.”
This publication was informed that the list of names of eligible teachers were sent to the Education Ministry’s Human Resources Officer on December 2, 2009, a transaction that can be verified at both the side of the Ministry and that of the Union.
“We have our evidence here and the Guyana Teachers’ Union is prepared to make this list available to the media so that they can randomly call these teachers to see if they were in receipt of their duty concession,” the GTU has stated.
While the Union does not blame the Minister for this oversight, it is however adamant that the Ministry’s Personnel Department should have ensured that she was well informed.
“Our duty is to send documents of a personnel nature to the Personnel Department and not the Minister herself. Our responsibility is not to make sure that the Minister gets it in her hands, our responsibility is to the Human Resource Officer, and so our contention is that in 2009 the document containing 175 names was received by the HR Officer,” the GTU insisted.
Moreover, aside from the number of teachers who received their concession for 2009, as admitted by the Minister, the additional numbers are still in waiting.
“There is still a whole long list of teachers who have not yet received their duty free…We can agree that there was a lull in terms of the distribution in 2009, but what we are saying is although they would have proceeded on retirement at the time they were eligible, and therefore they should be awarded that one-off duty.”
“This is no fault of the teachers, this is no fault of the GTU; it is the Ministry’s fault for whatever reason, and we don’t know what the reasons are that these teachers did not receive their duty free,” the GTU said.
“For the Minister to say only about 12 teachers were eligible in 2009 and then go on to say that we are less than honest and then when we produce our proof, then we can see who is really honest.”
Meanwhile, the Union has had cause to refute claims by the Minister that it too is at fault for a delay in the implementation of the de-bunching process.
According to Lyte, the GTU is dissatisfied with the de-bunching agreement which was designed to place teachers in various salary scale categories based on their years of service. This agreement, Lyte said, was signed in 2011, but to date, no teacher has been able to benefit from it.
“One may want to say that the process wasn’t clear,” said Lyte, at an earlier press conference, as he pointed out that in September of last year a Task Force completed its work in ensuring that the way was paved for the monies to be paid to teachers.
“Again the year came to an end and nothing was done,” said the GTU President, as he disclosed that the Union had even written to the Education Minister asking that a response on the matter be forthcoming within three days. But according to him, “to date we have not received a response from the Ministry of Education. We are saying that this approach is unacceptable and we will not sit by and allow these things to continue to happen to our teachers.”
In presenting her Ministry’s version of the de-bunching situation, the Education Minister explained that it was in 2010, a joint Committee was set up to deal with the proposal for de-bunching. The Committee saw representation from both the Ministry and the GTU sides, the Minister added.
She said that after the Committee met, a memorandum dated May 20, 2010, was sent to all Headteachers, who are members of the union, to submit information in a specified format as agreed upon by the Committee. But after one year only about 10 per cent had submitted the requisite information, Manickchand disclosed.
“In a memo dated the 24th May, 2011, a reminder was sent to the membership of the union again in agreement with the Union’s Executive and so on; by mid-2012 we had received about 90 per cent of the forms we had sent out,” said the Minister.
According to her, the salary structure was designed for implementation of the de-bunching exercise and a costing was done based on a revised salary for 2011. At the start of 2013 a completed proposal was given by the Committee to Lancelot Baptiste, GTU’s Administrative Field Officer, in order to have discussions at the level of the Union.
Manickchand recounted that in February of that same year, Baptiste was advised that the Union was satisfied with the plan which was forwarded to the Ministry sometime late last year, suggesting that the non-implementation of the de-bunching payment was the fault of the Union.
But according to GTU, “We have evidence again via our dispatch book that the de-bunching document which was signed by the GTU President, its General Secretary and its Representative (Baptiste) was sent back to the HR Officer on July 11, 2014.”
Although the GTU President had said it was sent in September “our records show that it was really earlier. Again it was our responsibility to pass it to that Human Resource Officer and not the Minister, and therefore we could not have been at fault.”
“GTU has its evidence, we can make that available as well because the public is being led to believe that GTU is not being truthful and that is not so,” the GTU insisted in its response.
Following on the heels of the announcement by President Donald Ramotar that May 11, 2015, will be the date for Regional and General Elections, the Ministry of Education has become the centre of attention. This is due to the fact that the date for the national elections coincides with a number of examinations offered by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
In fact several teachers, students and parents have raised concerns about the clash, a state of affairs that the Education Ministry in a statement yesterday said that it is well aware of.
According to the Ministry, it is cognizant that there exists among some parents and candidates, concerns about the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE). The statement added that “the Ministry wishes to assure all its stakeholders and all citizens that every consideration is being given to the smooth and effective sitting of the 2015 CSEC and CAPE examinations.”
As such, the Ministry said that it is in consultations with the CXC and other stakeholders to discuss and derive a suitable plan that is in the best interest of the candidates.
The Ministry has assured too that additional details will be forthcoming as the Ministry finalizes its plan for the sitting of the CSEC and CAPE examinations on May 11.
Meanwhile, President of the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU), Mark Lyte, told this publication yesterday that while the Union is first and foremost concerned about the welfare of its membership, it cannot help but be concerned about the candidates who will have to write examinations on Election Day. Lyte is worried that having the elections on the same day as the examinations is likely to “have some sort of an impact on the validity of the exams.”
“I hope that whatever arrangements are put in place would not cause our students to not perform the way they normally do,” said Lyte as he pointed out that “we all know around elections everybody is busy and there is tension. It might have been better for us to have a separate date (from examinations) for the elections.”
Lyte observed too that some of the candidates for the examinations may be eligible to vote and could very well be disenfranchised if elections are held on the same day.
“How are they going to cope with voting as well as examination?” Lyte asked.
He noted that while the Union has not yet shared its concerns with the Education Ministry “we hope that it will be addressed because it is a concern of the Union that the date of the elections coincides with the CXC examinations.”
This publication was informed that any date adjustment might more than likely have to be made at the level of Government in terms of a new elections date as the CXC examinations date is the same set for a number of countries and conducted simultaneously to maintain the integrity of the results.
However, from all indications Guyana’s Election Day is unlikely to change based on utterances from those within Government.
Based on the timetable issued by CXC, the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations set for May 11 are: (MORNING) AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE D/A 2 (General); AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE S/A 2 (General); THEATRE ARTS 1 (General); (AFTERNOON) ELECTRICAL and ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 1 –Technical; FOOD and NUTRITION 2 (General).
Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) set for the same date are: (MORNING) Geometrical and Mechanical Engineering Drawing Unit 1 Paper 2; History Unit 1 Paper 2; Art and Design Examinations to begin for Unit 1, Papers 2 and 3, and Unit 2, Papers 1 and 2; (AFTERNOON) Communication Studies Paper 2.
The move by President Donald Ramotar to announce a date for General Elections has left the Ministry of Education scrambling to determine the way forward. This is in light of the fact, that the May 11, 2015 Election date set by the President is the same date the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) has set a number of crucial examinations.
This publication learnt that Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, and several of her top level officers were locked in meetings yesterday as part of the efforts to chart the way forward.
The Minister, in an invited comment to this publication yesterday morning, had said that her Ministry will issue a statement on the matter but from reports reaching this publication, the consultations had not concluded even by late yesterday afternoon.
However, this publication was informed that any date adjustment might more than likely have to be made at the level of Government in terms of a new elections date; since the CXC examinations date is the same set for a number of countries and conducted simultaneously to maintain the integrity of the results. Moreover, it isn’t likely that the local Education Ministry can in any way adjust the date set for the CXC examinations.
Based on the timetable issued by CXC, the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations set for May 11 are: (MORNING) AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE D/A 2 (General); AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE S/A 2 (General); THEATRE ARTS 1 (General); (AFTERNOON) ELECTRICAL and ELECTRONIC TECHNOLOGY 1 –Technical; FOOD and NUTRITION 2 (General).
Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) set for the same date are: (MORNING) Geometrical and Mechanical Engineering Drawing Unit 1 Paper 2; History Unit 1 Paper 2; Art and Design Examinations to begin for Unit 1, Papers 2 and 3, and Unit 2, Papers 1 and 2; (AFTERNOON) Communication Studies Paper 2.
This is quite a significant development as it is highly unlikely that the regional examination body will deviate in any way from its final timetable to facilitate Guyana and its polls, and in relation to the elections, a number of schools across the country are used as polling stations.
It is clear that this may not have been taken into consideration by President Ramotar and his advisors when the decision was made.
This publication was told that if the Ministry hadn’t issued a statement on the matter by the end of yesterday, one is likely to be forthcoming today.
MINISTER of Education, Priya Manickchand last Friday clarified issues regarding the merging of the Brickdam Secondary School and Central High School and the establishment of a state-of-the-art facility. During a recent press conference, Minister Manickchand stated that she was displeased with the recent issues being highlighted by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU). She said further that since her time in office she has observed that the Ministry of Education (MOE), has over time, enjoyed a very good relationship with the GTU, in relation to the welfare of its members.
OPEN DOOR POLICY
The Minister emphasised that the ministry’s doors are always open to the GTU, pointing out too that the use of the media is extremely unhealthy to raise issues and she cautioned against this strategy.
“We are in touch by telephone…up to last week there was a meeting. We have had monthly almost statutory meetings with the Union, so I am very surprised to see some of the issues that the Union’s executives have been raising and for the first time in the media where there is no engagement with us to address some of these issues,” she said.
Minister Manickchand then noted that the ministry has identified two schools, Central High and Brickdam Secondary to be moved. This move was addressed during a meeting in December last year at the Ministry of Finance.
At present, she added, there is need to find space where a state-of-the-art facility will be constructed. The two schools, Minister Manickchand related, have similar needs but the present location is not very conducive to learning and there is also no area for extracurricular activities.
“That is something we have no difficulty in saying. We have a problem with finding space because you can’t put children in a busy street, and so we are making sure that it is funded so that we can actually make sure that it is state-of-the-art,” Manickchand explained. This had been addressed long ago, even before it gained the attention of the GTU.
DUTY FREE CONCESSIONS
The question of duty free concessions was raised at the press conference and the Education Minister explained the short comings. “In 2009, because of miscommunication between both the ministry and the union, there were some teachers who had become eligible for this, but did not get their concessions,” she said.
Minister Manickchand noted that it was not the ministry’s fault alone, but also the union’s and its executive body. She said that there were about a dozen teachers who were eligible in 2009, and they have all received their concessions.
She added that at the time they received them, they did not meet the conditions between the union and the Government as in the Memorandum of Understanding.
“At the time they made the applications, they did have the required eligibility conditions, with five years on the job and having served for three years. Given the fact that the teachers were not at fault, I saw it as unfair and took the decision to Cabinet, which agreed and passed all the procedures,” she explained.
‘A’ LIST SCHOOL
Minister Manickchand also alluded to the fact that North Ruimveldt Multilateral School will be commissioned as an ‘A’ List school. “Evidencing our progress as a country and particularly in the education sector, we will be declaring the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School an ‘A’ List school in this quarter,” she declared.
The North Ruimveldt Multilateral started out as a ‘B’ List school and based on the excellent performance of the school’s students at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) over a period of three consecutive years, the school is now qualified to be an ‘A’ List school, the Minister said.
THE Education Ministry is working currently on the publication of its Education Sector Plan 2014-2018 and the finalising and publication of Professional Standards for Teachers in 2015. Education Minister, Priya Manickchand has said that the ministry is dedicated to ensuring that all citizens of Guyana, regardless of age, race or creed, physical or mental disability, or socio-economic status, are given the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential through equal access to quality education.
Minister Manickchand was speaking at a recent press conference at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) in Kingston.
The Education Minister related that “the commitment to quality and equity in education, with no barriers in access to anyone, is clear in this new Plan.” The 2014-2018 National Education Sector Plan covers all levels of education, except university education. It consists of the detailed action plans of each unit or department that must take actions in order to meet the targets of the strategy.
“This plan continues the focus on improving the quality of education that was outlined in previous plans, but it places much more emphasis on accountability by continuously monitoring results throughout the plan period,” Manickchand explained. COUNTRYWIDE CONSULTATIONS
The ministry undertook to establish a draft Professional Standards for Teachers and consequentially conducted countrywide consultations with key stakeholders.
“More than 55 consultations were held where teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders provided their views on the contents of the document,” the Minister explained
Manickchand noted that “the Ministry of Education is proud to report that the consultations were extremely useful in bringing us to the point where we are preparing to officially publish, sensitise and implement the Professional Standards for Teachers in a few weeks.”
Text Books
“We continue to place a lot of emphasis on the equitable provision of learning resources to our students. Much effort has gone into creating and developing our own learning kits and packages and importantly, our own text books and work books,” the Minister said.
The Minister had said during the commissioning of the St. Agnes Primary School in September 2014 that “all our children in every primary school across this country should have text books for Mathematics, English, Science and Social Studies in their book bags.” She explained that over the last two years the ministry has procured books specifically to meet the needs of primary school students.
In 2013 and 2014 Roraima Readers Series and Atlantic Readers Series were developed and written. During this quarter, the Minister related that “we anticipate that we would be able to publish these books with their accompanying workbooks and that we would begin usage on a national scale in September 2015. “It is important to note that these books were developed by a group of dedicated Guyanese educators,” she added.
WITHIN the list of ‘neglects’ that the Amerindians of Guyana had to endure, during the years of the People’s National Congress (PNC) regime, was access to quality education.
Region 7 residents at the launch of the HEIP at Kamarang
And this was so, despite the establishment of the Amerindian Scholarship Fund in 1962, which was not properly supported by adequate funding. This meant that there was no efficaciousness in catering for the educational tuition of the many Amerindians eligible for this accommodation. What this translated to was that Amerindians were continuously at a disadvantaged position as far as obtaining quality education, thus rendering them incapable of competing for desirable employment opportunities.
This hopeless scenario, however, was predestined to change, and in retrospect, it is evident that a drastic one did take place. The reason inheres in the reality of huge investments and innovative interventions that were meted out over years, since the People’s Progressive
Katoonarib Primary in Region 9
Party/Civic (PPP/C) administration took office in 1992, as it embarked on an Education Strategic Plan, which saw the implementation of many programmes and policies, and the rehabilitation of schools and the construction of new ones where none had previously existed.
Hinterland Scholarship Programme
The Hinterland Scholarship Programme (HSP) that affords academic opportunities, at both the secondary and tertiary levels, took centre stage of this great revitalisation of Amerindian education.
In 1963, six scholarships were offered under this programme. However, since 1992, the programme has undergone an expansion that is allowing it to be more comprehensive.
This programme, which allows for the integration of hinterland students into the wider Guyanese society, and which provides them with quality secondary and technical education not accessible in their communities, offers two types of scholarships: the regional and national scholarship. The programme is supported by the Government, through the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs, and provides students with a monthly stipend, school necessities, accommodation and meals.
A section of the Kato secondary School in Region 8
For the regional aspect, students are required to obtain 470 marks at the National Grade Six Examination, while for the national level, students are required to obtain more than 480 marks to be awarded schools in Georgetown and its environs.
It has thus far benefitted more than 1000 students, and has produced nurses, midwives, medex, engineers, teachers, and agriculturalists, who, after their initial training, returned to their respective communities to share their development skills. There are also Amerindians in Cuba, on scholarships, ranging from medicine to agronomy and Information Technology. In 2014, $66.6 million was allocated from the National Budget to the Hinterland Scholarship Programme.
A Massakenari youth using a computer to do his homework
Infrastructure
Prior to 1993, there was hardly any proper educational infrastructure in Amerindian communities, and students had to travel long distances, either by foot or canoe, in order to attend school. As a result of this discomfort, many children did not attend school regularly, and it led to a huge number of drop-outs and absenteeism.
However, recognising this injustice, the PPP/C administration began building schools wherever feasible, to ensure that children attend schools close to their communities.
Today, there are over 250 schools, spread across the regions, 116 nursery, 139 primary, and 12 secondary schools, thus adequately catering for a wide spread of students.
Students of the Assakata Primary, Region 1
Secondary education
At the secondary level, the administration ensured several institutions were constructed in the hinterland areas. Up to year 2003, less than 13% of the households in the rural interior had access to secondary education.
From one secondary school that existed in Region 2 decades ago, scondary schools now exist in communities such as, Mabaruma, Port Kaituma and Santa Rosa, Region 1; St Cuthbert’s Mission, Region 4; Waramadong, Jawalla and Three Miles, Region 7; Mahdia and Paramakatoi, Region 8; and Annai, Aishalton, St. Ignatius, and Sand Creek, Region 9.
Moreover, works are ongoing on the construction of the state-of-the-art $780M secondary school at Kato, Region 8. This school is expected to house 1000 students and is schedule to be completed this year.
Primary schools
Guyana has achieved Universal Primary Education, which means that every child, regardless of his location, now has access to a primary school.
To this end, a number of primary facilities were constructed in many hinterland communities, with the most recent being the Lower Kaituma Primary and Mabaruma Primary, Region 1; Bethany Primary, Region 2; Mora Point Nursery and Karamat Primary, Region 5; Quebanang Primary and Nursery, Region 7; Paramakatoi Primary, Region 8; Arapaima Primary, Baitoon Primary, Semonie Primary, and Rockstone Primary, Region 10.
Accommodation
In order to accommodate students who attend school far away from their communities, a number of dorm facilities have been constructed and renovated in Regions 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9. The $95.4 dormitory facility at Liliendaal facilitates students who are studying on the coast.
Trained teachers
Recognising the large number of untrained and unqualified teachers in the Hinterland schools, Government quickly embarked on a number of initiatives to facilitate distance training for teachers, one being the Guyana Basic Education Teacher Training Programme.
Thus far, over 1200 teachers and 400 principals in Regions 1, 7, 8, and 9 have benefited from this important intervention.
Of note also is an amazing reality: 90 percent of the schools also now have teachers’ houses; 90% are equipped with sanitary blocks; 45% with electricity; and 83% with water facilities.
Social assistance programmes
Government embarked on a number of initiatives, in order to improve students’ attendance, as this is basic where education is concerned, so the efforts were directed at providing them with a better opportunity to complete school, thus receiving a sound and full education. There are now the school uniform and school feeding programmes; more recently, an education grant was added.
The National School Feeding and Uniform programmes are aiding thousands of hinterland students, providing them with hot meals, and uniforms. These have positively impacted students’ attendance and performance.
Further, the Government’s “Because We Care” $10,000 cash grant programme was a timely addition; it was launched in 2014, and saw each student in the public school system, benefiting from it.
Hinterland Education Improvement Programme
While Government has been able to put in place the necessary infrastructure, it was concerned about the quality of education that was being delivered, and hence the implementation of the Hinterland Education Improvement Programme (HEIP).
This programme targets specific areas that need Government’s intervention, and is to be implemented in Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9. It is a five-year plan to improve education delivery in the hinterland and riverine areas. Among the targeted components are: improvement of quality of teacher education; aligning teaching-learning resources to improve students’ outcome; improving physical facilities; fostering community alliances; and strengthening management supervision.
Education Channel
The Education Channel is another initiative which allows for students to have access to numerous educational programmes in areas such as mathematics, chemistry, the English Language, physics, biology, social studies, debates, spelling, examination tips, preparing School Based Assessments (SBA), sign language, foreign language, cultural documentaries and Guyanese history.
This channel has about 200,000 viewers and is being received in remote areas such as Mahdia, Region 8; Aishalton, Annai, and Lethem, Region 9; and Port Kaituma, Region 1; and more recently, Moraikobai, a riveine community in Region 5.
Even as strategic efforts are being made to improve the delivery of education within the public education system, the Ministry of Education will this year direct focus to a number of areas. Some of these were highlighted Friday by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, when she convened her first press conference for 2015.
The forum which was held at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) saw the attendance of several top education officers as Minister Manickchand sought to outline the path her Ministry will be taking in the next few months.
She disclosed that among her Ministry’s plans is to ensure that all citizens of Guyana, regardless of age, race, creed, physical or mental disability, or socio-economic status, are given the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential through equal access to quality education as defined by the standards and norms outlined by the Ministry.
EDUCATION SECTOR PLAN
In speaking directly to moves to publish the Ministry’s Education Sector Plan, which is designed to guide the work of the Ministry over a five-year period (2014-2018), Manickchand said that the Plan is one that clearly emphasises a commitment to ensure quality and equity in education, with no barriers in access to anyone. The Education Sector Plan covers all levels of education except university. It consists of the detailed action plans of each unit or department that must take various actions in order to meet the targets of the Strategy.
Moreover, Minister Manickchand pointed out that the Plan is intended to continue focusing on improving the quality of education that was outlined in previous Plans, although it places much more emphasis on accountability by continuously monitoring results throughout the Plan’s period.
NEW ‘A’ LIST SCHOOL
And even as it makes efforts to improve its overall operation, aided by its Strategic Plan, Manickchand said that her Ministry will be witnessing progress as a country and particularly in the education sector, by declaring the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School an ‘A’ List School during the first quarter of this year.
She explained that while the institution started out as a ‘B’ List school, because of sustained excellent performances by its students at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination over a period of three consecutive years, it is now eligible to become a ‘A’ List school. PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS FOR TEACHERS
The Minister in her deliberations on Friday last, also offered an update on the Professional Standards for teachers which had long gained the attention of several education stakeholders.
As such Manickchand said that her Ministry will this year seek to establish a draft Professional Standards for teachers, which was discussed extensively countrywide with all key stakeholders. This process saw more than 55 consultations being held, where teachers, parents, students and other stakeholders were able to share their views on the contents of the document.
Manickchand announced that “the Ministry of Education is proud to report that the consultations were extremely useful in bringing us to the point where we are preparing to officially publish, sensitize and implement the Professional Standards for Teachers in a few weeks.” TEXT BOOKS
Manickchand informed that the deliberate efforts to improve the education system will also include the provision of textbooks. According to her, “we continue to place a lot of emphasis on the equitable provision of learning resources to our students. Much effort has gone into creating and developing our own learning kits and packages and importantly, our own textbooks and workbooks.”
In 2013 and 2014, the Roriama Readers and Atlantic Readers series were developed and written. And according to Manickchand during this quarter of the year “we anticipate that we would be able to publish these books with their accompanying workbooks and that we would begin usage on a national scale in September 2015.” And the Ministry is certainly boasting about the fact that the materials were all developed by what the Minister has described as “a group of dedicated Guyanese educators.”
SECONDARY EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT PROJECT
Meanwhile, with the commencement of its Secondary Education Improvement Project, the Ministry is poised to strengthen the capacity of secondary school Mathematics teachers nationwide, while at the same time increasing its enrolment in general secondary schools in targeted regions.
According to Minister Manickchand, it is expected that approximately 800 secondary level Mathematics teachers nationwide would be receiving in-service training although the direct Project beneficiaries would be the 2,600-odd students via new secondary school facilities each year in Regions Three and Four.
The Project is also structured to benefit students at eight schools, with a Technology-assisted Learning in Mathematics pilot, Manickchand said, as she informed that an additional feature will see the Ministry benefiting from improved capacity in Education Management and Information System (EMIS).
This project, according to her, will also be officially launched in the first quarter of this year.
NATIONAL REPORT CARD DAY AND PARENTS’ DAY
And in an effort to increase the information available to stakeholders, especially Parent-Teacher Associations and parents about the status of their schools and the status of individual children’s progress, the Ministry will be introducing a National Report Card Day and a monthly Parents’ Day.
This tactic is one that will serve to increase the lines of communication and collaboration between parent stakeholders and the schools, and by extension, the Ministry of Education.
According to Minister Manickchand, report cards offer insight into a child’s learning progress and also help parents ensure that their children are being challenged and assessed. She shared her conviction that Report Cards are known to help parents identify those areas where a child may need additional support, and went on to note that “a report card sets the stage for important discussions with teachers and the school about how to overcome challenges.”
Moreover, the Ministry will this year designate the last Thursday or second-to-last day of every school term as National Report Card Day, said Manickchand.
Further, the Ministry is also designating the fourth Thursday of every month as Parents’ Day at the Nursery Level and the second Thursday of every month as Parents’ Day at the Primary Level, the Minister added.
The necessary Circulars and Memos, she noted, will be sent out with details on these two initiatives as according to her, “the Ministry views these approaches as vital to the development of children and we encourage parents, guardians and teachers to work together to ensure that every child becomes the best that he or she can become. Together, we can move forward and take our children to a higher level.”
PORTUGUESE
And the Minister unveiled plans for the offering of Portugese by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). According to her, CXC is set to soon offer the relatively new subject area at the level of the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC). This subject, Manickchand disclosed, is slated to be written in nine territories for the first time in 2016.
Additionally, CXC will offer Portuguese as a subject at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) in 2017.
“You may recall that it was Guyana’s Ministry of Education that piloted Portuguese formally in the secondary schools’ curriculum. It was we here that developed Curriculum Guides, resource materials and trained our teachers to deliver this new but increasingly useful language,” the Education Minister recounted.
A team led by Minister Manickchand had had several meetings with the relevant authorities of CXC over the last year and made proposals for this subject to be included formally as a subject that is offered. And according to the Minister, “we are extremely pleased to say our efforts bore fruit and we are grateful to all the territories who supported our application and proposals to CXC.”
THE commencement of the Secondary Education Improvement Project is scheduled to begin within the first quarter of 2015 and will put Guyana closer to attaining universal secondary education.This was revealed during a press conference held at the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD) in Kingston. During her remarks, Education Minister, Priya Manickchand explained that the ministry was on track to attain universal secondary education within this new school term, but it seems as though this might not materialise.
“This project is going to help us to get closer to our goal and the PPP/C(People Progressive Party/ Civic) manifesto promises of attaining universal secondary education by this term. That seems to be in jeopardy given that the term looks as if it is going to be cut short,” the Education Minister contended.
Ms. Manickchand explained that two of the main objectives are: strengthening the capacity of secondary school mathematics teachers nationwide, and increasing enrolment in general secondary schools in targeted regions. “This is a US$10M project that is expected to be implemented over the next three years and will officially launch in the first quarter of 2015.”
The Education Minister emphasised during her year-end review that primary schooling in Guyana has achieved the Millennium Development Goal and all children in Guyana have access to primary education. According to Ms. Manickchand, the secondary sector has not yet achieved this goal in every region, it has done so in most, and work continues towards achieving this across the board. “We have achieved universal primary education in Guyana and [are] very close in achieving universal secondary,” [education] she said.
“Capacity- building, evaluation and improving facilities were also focused on under the Guyana Improving Teacher Education Programme. The number of additionally qualified primary teachers and others has exceeded the targets set,” the minister also said.
Under the implementation of the project, approximately 800 secondary- level mathematics teachers nationwide would benefit from in-service training. The minister disclosed that the project’s direct beneficiaries would be 2,600 students each year, from new secondary schools in Regions 3 and 4,providing the schools are built.
The project would also benefit students at eight schools with Technology-assisted Learning in Mathematics pilot programmes In addition, the Education Ministry would benefit from improved capacity in the Education Management and Information System (EMIS).
