On Saturday May 17, 2014, Guyana’s Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, was conferred an honorary doctoral degree by Lesley University for her outstanding work in advocating for social justice and gender equality. This comes in the wake of the Honourable Minister being honoured by Lesley University alongside South African Jazz Musician and Social Activist, Hugh Masekela, in 2010, for their demonstrated commitment and leadership to advancing gender and racial equality around the world.

A citation from Lesley University stated that: “Priya Manickchand, your life has been dedicated to improving the lives of women, children, and families within your country.  You have been a tireless advocate for the victims of violence and a spokesperson addressing the cultural and human conditions that give rise to the pervasive problem of gender-based violence….”

It further stated that: “As Guyana’s Minister of Human Services and Social Security, you were devoted to ending the scourge of violence against women and children.  Toward this end, you published a National Policy on

Domestic Violence, presented to Parliament for passage into law a series of bills relating to the care, development and protection of children, and initiated a countrywide campaign to stamp out sexual violence. That campaign realized a revolutionary Sex Offences Law being piloted by you and passed by the Parliament. You established your country’s only Childcare and Protection Agency and you expanded Legal Aid services from the capital city alone to 6 of Guyana’s 10 regions, making access to justice for Guyana’s vulnerable a reality. You also collaborated with the private sector to establish the Women of Worth economic initiative; a loan programme that provides low interest and collateral free loans to single-parent women from lower income brackets who wish to start up or expand their businesses.”

“In 2011 you were appointed Minister of Education and in this capacity you are currently leading change efforts by improving the quality of your country’s universal primary education and establishing universal secondary education.  You are a true visionary and were instrumental in establishing a relationship between Guyana and Lesley University. Recognising the need for qualified mental health professionals to address the needs of vulnerable youth, families, and communities, you worked with Lesley to develop a unique programme that educates school counselors and social workers to address the needs of the citizens of Guyana through Expressive Therapies, Counseling Psychology, and Mindfulness Practice.”

“In recognition of your life’s work in service to your community, especially to the end of violence against women and children, and the education of all Guyanese young people, Lesley University is honoured to confer upon you the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.  Presented in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 17th day of May, in the year Two Thousand Fourteen.”

After being conferred with the Doctoral degree Minister Manickchand addressed the graduates to a standing ovation. She stressed the importance of education in the deveolpment of the world. She said “Education is universally recognized as being one sure way to catapult change: to improve individual circumstances, to uplift families, to transform communities, to develop countries, to change the human condition for the better.

She told the graduates that a sure way of addressing and reolving the issues affecting the world that are identified and reflected in the Millenium development goals would be to attain gender equality. She said “This necessity to achieve gender equality and our inability to yet so do has been recognised and spoken about so much that the quest for gender equality has become a cliché. And while some gains have been forged, sadly and dangerously, frighteningly, we have not seen a shift towards attaining this most necessary status that is proportionate to the recognition for its necessity and commentary and promises that accompany that recognition….I ask you, today, whatever your passion, whatever you plan to pursue, wherever you work, wherever you live, that you ensure you consciously and strategically set about to use your value, the education and training you leave here with, to bring about gender equality.”

Honorary degrees are awarded to men and women who have achieved distinction in their chosen fields and professions. By their examples, honorary degrees recipients make tangible a set of values we aspire to as an academic community. These individuals are models to us because of their intellectual engagement, professional achievements, and civic commitment.

Also receiving an honorary degree along with Guyana’s Minister of Education from Lesley University, is world renowned American author of children’s books, Ms. Loris Lowry.

The staff of the Ministry of Education expresses warmest congratulations to the Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, on the receipt of her Honorary Doctoral Degree from Lesley University.

 Source: http://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/20/lesley-university-confers-honorary-doctorate-on-minister-of-education-priya-manickchand

CAMBRIDGE — Whenever anyone asks Priscilla Gonsalves whether it is worth it — and they always ask when they learn she is a child protection worker in some of the grittiest communities in the South American nation of Guyana — she begins her reply with: “There is this 14-year-old girl . . . “

In her job, Gonsalves said, she travels from Georgetown, Guyana’s capital city, by bus and rickety boat to small villages where child abuse is alleged or suspected. Alone, she patrols hundreds of communities whose combined population tops 7,000, farming hamlets that dot the countryside and fishing villages bordering the massive Essequibo River.
The 14-year-old she met in one of those villages had been abused for years by men close to her family, Gonsalves said, and was too traumatized to accept counseling.
“When I first met this girl, she wouldn’t speak. She wouldn’t open up,” Gonsalves said. “There was no way to get through to her, and then I heard about Lesley.”
That would be Lesley University in Cambridge, where on Saturday, 28-year-old Gonsalves and a dozen other schoolteachers and social workers from Guyana will graduate with Master’s Degrees in Trauma, Sensitive Assessment, Intervention and Consultation. If the degree title seems oddly cobbled together, it is because the program was tailored specifically for Guyanese Social Workers who largely lack specialized training to address domestic violence and child abuse.
Guyana is a small country, whose population of 735,000 is barely larger than that of Boston. Tensions among its ethnically diverse groups—with people of African and Indian descent — often makes social work difficult, Gonsalves and her classmates said.

“It has a lot to do with people being afraid of talking about mental health, especially in the villages,” she said. “It is a dirty word. And it is a lot worse, I think, because across the different ethnic groups, there is a suspicion and concern about how one group will view another if the other is getting helped by us.”
In fall 2010, Catherine Koverola, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Lesley University, along with officials from UNICEF and the Guyanese government’s social service agencies, began designing the specialized counseling curriculum.

A year later, the program was launched, and 13 Guyanese teachers and social workers enrolled. They have spent a grueling three years in the Interdisciplinary Studies Program of Lesley’s Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences: maintaining their full-time jobs while taking classes in Georgetown from local and visiting Lesley instructors, as well as from instructors in Cambridge via Skype. They also traveled to Cambridge periodically to study for two-week stints at Lesley.

“We spent a long time planning and designing this program,” said Priya Manickchand, Guyana’s Minister of Education, who was in Cambridge to attend the graduation ceremony. “What was especially important to us was to make sure that the curriculum factored in cultural nuance and respected that fact that while domestic violence is universal and is rightfully condemned everywhere, the path to correcting it and ending it may differ in different cultures.”

Stephen Bactawar, 43, who teaches high school Social Studies in Georgetown, said some Guyanese parents value hunting or fishing more than education.
“As a teacher, I observed lots of domestic situations and wanted to intervene in the children’s lives, and work along with the parents, especially when I learned the parents were not playing a great role in their childrens’ education,” Bactawar said. “But it was extremely difficult to get disengaged parents involved.”
Bactawar said his studies at Lesley helped him better understand the parents’ mental health and emotional issues, so he has had a greater chance of convincing them to get involved.
Over the past year or so, Bactawar said he has begun helping teachers recognize signs of abuse and create strategies to work with parents. He is making progress, but not all child abuse manifests in physical injuries, he said, and that can make problems harder to detect.

Indeed, Kaycina Jardine, Guyana’s 33-year-old Manager of government adoption programs and a Lesley classmate of Bactawar and Gonsalves, cited a 2012 UNICEF report that found the most common form of abuse in Guyana was neglect, not physical assault.
“My thesis focused on child victims of sexual abuse, but the even larger problem was children abandoned, not fed, not clothed, not taught, not treated properly,” Jardine said.
Fine arts therapy, long a staple at Lesley, has been part of the program for the Guyanese students.
Jardine said that coaching caregivers at orphanages in how to teach dance and music to their young charges gave her insight into what they needed to care for the children.
“It’s interesting that some of what is making the biggest difference isn’t complicated,” Jardine said. “Music and dance, for example, are two things people in our country love.”
The dancing helps the children feel more comfortable.
“We had three and four-year-olds beating their heads against the wall because they were frustrated and didn’t know how to express it,” she said. Now, after experiencing the arts therapy, she said, “they dance, they relax, they open up.”

During one of her recent three-hour bus and boat treks to the villages, Gonsalves said she experienced the greatest result yet from her graduate work, including the art therapy.
“That 14-year-old girl? She was talking and laughing and was happy to see me,” she said. “She talked. Our breakthrough came through a drawing she made, while we listened to music together. Now, she is out of her shell, and after that session, she was able to testify in court against the person who had assaulted and abused her.”
The abuser was convicted, Gonsalves said, and the girl now lives in a safe home.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/19/guyanese-students-first-to-graduate-from-lesleys-anti-abuse-program/

Advocating for the rights of children and women is undoubtedly ingrained in the anatomy of Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, whose tireless work in this regard saw her on Saturday being conferred with an Honorary Doctorate from the Lesley University in Boston Massachusetts, United States of America.

Manickchand, along with award-winning and prolific author of children’s and young adult books, Lois Lowry, were both recipients of Honorary Degrees when the University graduated 1,446.
The women were both recognised for their outstanding contributions and achievements, an indication that their respective diligence, over the years, has not gone unnoticed internationally.
Honorary Degrees are awarded to persons who have achieved distinction in their chosen fields and professions. Moreover, it was noted at the start of the graduation ceremony on Saturday, which was streamed live on the University’s website, that “Honorary Degree recipients make tangible a set of values we aspire to as an academic community. These individuals are models to us because of their intellectual engagement, professional achievement and civic commitment.”

Manickchand’s award was premised on the observation of University officials that her life has been dedicated to improving the lives of women, children and families in Guyana. Moreover, efforts were made to trace her professional career and attendance of a number of worldwide conferences that addressed issues of racial and gender equality, globally.

Although Manickchand was appointed Minister of Education in 2011, she had previously held the portfolio of Minister of Human Services and Social Security through which she was able to noticeably tackle the scourge of violence against women and children. Among her achievements, in this regard, has been the publication of a National Policy on Domestic Violence, which was presented to Parliament for passage into law of a series of Bills relating to care, development and protection of children.
She was also instrumental in initiating a countrywide campaign to stamp out sexual violence which realized the revolutionary Sexual Offences Law.

As Human Services Minister too, Manickchand also established the country’s lone Child Care and Protection Agency and expanded Legal Aid services allowing for access to justice for the vulnerable.
She was also the force behind the implementation of the Women of Worth (WOW) economic initiative, a programme that provides low interest and collateral free loans to single parent women from lower income brackets who are keen on becoming involved in the business sector.

As Minister of Education Manickchand, has been able to realize universal primary education and is already spearheading measures towards universal secondary education as well.
Moreover, University officials, Deborah Raizes, Chair, Board of Trustees and Joseph B. Moore, President, recognized Manickchand as “a true visionary” who was also instrumental in establishing a relationship between Guyana and Lesley University.

Manickchand in recognizing the need for mental health professionals to address the needs of vulnerable youth, families and communities, was able to work along with the University to develop a unique programme that educates School Counsellors and Social Workers to address the needs of Guyanese through Expressive Therapies, Counselling Psychology and Mindfulness Practice.
A total of 13 Guyanese teachers and social workers who undertook the programme at Lesley University recently graduated.

Moreover, a citation read to Manickhand on Saturday stated that “In recognition of your life’s work in service to your community, especially to the end of violence against women and children, and the education of all Guyanese young people, Lesley University is honoured to confer upon you the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.”
Both honorary awardees, Manickchand and Lowry, were required to deliver separate addresses to the graduates, an undertaking that Manickchand extensively laced with her gender-equality conviction.  She passionately appealed to the graduates to embrace the global cause of gender equality, which can often be hampered by challenges including poverty, hunger, health care and even educational inequality.

And educational inequality is evident in some sections of the world, Manickchand observed, even as she pointed out that “when a girl is not allowed an education somewhere else in the world simply because she is a girl, it will affect your lives…because we are interconnected.” “Whatever your passion, whatever you plan to pursue, wherever you work, wherever you live, wherever you play, consciously and strategically set to use your value, your training here, to bring about gender equality,” Manickchand told the graduates.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/19/education-minister-gets-honorary-doctorate/

Of the five ‘new generation’ subjects launched earlier this week across the Caribbean as part of the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), Guyana will more likely than not be most interested in Agriculture Science, Tourism and Entrepreneurship.

For Guyana, all three areas are much more than academic disciplines. They are, as well, important economic sectors; agriculture remains an indispensable part of the Guyana economy while tourism has long been an area of significant investment, not matched by commensurate returns. As for entrepreneurship, its emergence as an academic discipline coincides with modest opportunities now available on account of the creation of a local Small Business Bureau to expand the frontiers of self-employment in Guyana.

The new CAPE Agriculture Science subject was launched in Georgetown on Wednesday where the Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC) Acting Registrar Glenroy Cumberbatch made the altogether pertinent comment on the overcrowded public sector in the Caribbean and the need to begin to produce more skills that can be pressed into service in the region’s private sector.

Agriculture Science, Tourism and Entrepreneurship apart, Physical Education and Sport and the Performing Arts will be taught in schools from September in preparation for CAPE examinations in 2015.

Hopefully, the CXC official is correct in his assertion that the introduction of the new subjects on the CAPE curriculum will assist students in making a seamless transition from school to the world of work. If it remains true that the contemporary private sector is on the lookout for a combination of certification and practical skills, the issue will inevitably arise as to whether the CAPE curriculum will provide them with what they want in those key new disciplines.

Discourses have surfaced here in Guyana and elsewhere in the region as to whether CXC subjects like Agriculture Science and Home Economics are not tailor-made as ‘make up’ subjects for students aiming for success at multiple subjects that position them for a regional award.

With some of those subjects now appearing on the CAPE curriculum the challenge which the CXC now has is to ensure that its graduates in areas like Agriculture Science and Tourism are adequately equipped to meet the demands of the private sector workplaces.

Insofar as the introduction of Agriculture Science on the CAPE curriculum is concerned CXC says that this is in response to its recognition that agriculture and increased food production are critical regional sectors and key components in the development of policies that drive economic growth. CXC says that by including Agriculture Science on the CAPE curriculum it hopes to make available more persons who are equipped with the knowledge, skills and competencies to understand and sustain the development of agriculture.

Significantly, the CAPE Agriculture Science curriculum includes instructions in the disciplines of packaging and marketing, both of which have been key areas of underachievement in the Guyana’s manufacturing sector.

If CXC through its current intervention can turn those weaknesses around, the local and regional private sectors would be indebted to the institution. Other subject areas that are part of the CAPE agriculture curriculum including horticulture, farm management (and farm attachments) are all directly relevant to raising standards in the sector.

In Barbados, where the launch of CAPE’s tourism discipline took place this week the Caribbean Tourism Organisation also recognised the significance of the CXC initiative. Equally, it made the point regarding the importance of ensuring that the subject be taken beyond simply another academic discipline. As in the various other newly introduced CAPE subject areas, tourism will only be relevant if it serves as a vehicle for strengthening the human resource base of the sector and ultimately contributing to its growth and development. That will be the acid test of the effectiveness of the initiative which the CXC took in the region this week.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/business/05/16/new-cape-subjects-bring-academia-closer-helping-region-meet-key-needs/

IN an effort to ensure the timely release of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has released an update for parents, indicating that the marking of all the NGSA papers has been completed. 

Currently, the marked examination scripts are being processed nationally, and all systems are in place and functioning optimally to guarantee the release of the results as promised by the ministry, by Friday, June 27, 2014.
This marks the second consecutive year that the MOE will be releasing the NGSA results promptly as indicated, through the continued enhancement of the overall quality management processes of the examination.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand on April 16 disclosed that the NGSA results will be made available on June 27 this year. “We are in a far better place than we were and this year even before the children started their exams they already know when results will be issued. This was something our sector needed to standardise and we did, so it’s in now, within our calendar and it’s the first time also that we have done this.”
Manickchand related during an invited comment that the ministry is expecting to see results like they have been receiving for the last few years since the sector has now been able to distribute services across Guyana.
She said that schools outside of Georgetown are now able to compete with Georgetown and “this is because of our conscious efforts to equitably distribute services throughout the country – that is if we have textbooks in Georgetown, we have the same in Berbice, Essequibo and elsewhere.”

National Grade Two Assessment

The ministry also wishes to inform parents that the National Grade Two Assessment commences on Monday, June 9, 2014, and concludes on Friday, June 20, 2014. Parents are urged to note that this assessment is conducted in two parts – oral and written – and are asked to ensure that they help in the preparation of their children for this very important assessment.

Parents of Grade Four students are also being reminded that the National Grade Four Assessment will take place on Wednesday, June 18 and Thursday, June 19, 2014. The National Grade Nine Assessment will commence on Tuesday, June 17 and conclude on Thursday, June 20, 2014.
In 2013, for the first time, the earliest release of the NGSA results was promised by Minister Manickchand. This year 15,500 students wrote the NGSA exams which were held on Wednesday, April 16 and Thursday, April 17, 2014 at centres across Guyana.

Source: (By Rebecca Ganesh-Ally) https://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/15/ngsa-marking-completed-systems-in-place-for-release-of-results-by-june-27

The Ministry of Education has announced that the marking of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) papers has been completed and it is on track to release the results by its Friday, June 27 deadline.

Currently, the scripts are being processed nationally and all systems are in place and functioning optimally, to guarantee the release of the results on the said date, the ministry said in a press release.

Last year saw the earliest release of the results and the ministry aims to emulate this by keeping the process streamlined. The NGSA was held on Wednesday, April 16 and Thursday, April 17 at centres across Guyana.

Meanwhile, the National Grade Two Assessment is scheduled for Monday June 9 and concludes on Friday June 20. Parents are urged to note that this assessment is conducted in two parts: oral and written, and as such they should take steps to ensure that their children are prepared for it.

Parents of Grade Four children are also reminded that the National Grade Four Assessment will take place on Wednesday June 18 and Thursday June 19. In addition, the National Grade Nine Assessment will start on Tuesday June 17 and conclude on Thursday June 20.

Source: https://www.stabroeknews.com/2014/news/guyana/05/15/marking-completed-grade-six-assessment/

GUYANA yesterday joined the rest of the Caribbean in launching the ‘New Generation’ of Caribbean Advance Proficiency Examination (CAPE) subjects at the Theatre Guild on Parade Street, Kingston. 

After winning the Agricultural Science subject award since 2008, it was only fitting that Guyana should offer Agricultural Science at CAPE.

Over the years, the Caribbean agricultural agenda through the Caribbean Agricultural Research & Development Institute (CARDI) has continued to be driven by the sequence of initiatives following the declaration of the

Speaking briefly at the function, CARDI Representative, Norman Gibson said “since 2007, CARDI has been involved with CXC (Caribbean Examination Council) and we have been providing a prize for the most outstanding student in Agricultural Science. And since 2008, Guyana has been winning that prize, it is recognised that Guyanese students over the years have been outstanding in this sector.”Treaty of Chaguaramas, July 1973. These include the Regional Transformation Programme for Agriculture (RTP), and ‘The Jagdeo Initiative’, which was conceptualised to accelerate its implementation.

According to Glenroy Cumberbatch, acting Registrar of CXC, “This step is a giant leap towards providing our youth with the knowledge, the confidence and insights needed to change the quality of products we put forward.

“In Agricultural Science, it would put our prospective farmers in a better position to make evidence-based and informed judgments and decisions on implementing best-practices to enhance the sector over time, and on preserving the environment and this can be the same for the other four subjects too.” He further explained that each syllabus was designed with an input from all member state countries.

“Guyana could have justifiably launched any of the five subjects here today, but seeing that we have been awarded best outstanding student in Agricultural Science since 2008, it is fitting that Guyana launches the Agricultural Science,” said Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand at the function.

Manickchand said that “CXC has really done what is absolutely necessary in our region today, and this is not the end as we heard. Guyana is fully supportive of any efforts that will do well for CARICOM countries, and CXC will continue to receive the support from the people and the Government of Guyana.” And with the present generation being more inclined to business, she said, this initiative of the CXC couldn’t come at a better time, since it will help them make the right decisions and be properly qualified.

The CAPE Agricultural Science syllabus is so designed as to help students with the essentials of business ownership, legal and regulatory frameworks and the importance of market research, among other aspects.

Meanwhile, in his feature address, Minister of Agriculture, Dr Leslie Ramsammy pointed out that “before time, farming was for those who failed, or for those who could not do anything better, as we propagate that success is being a doctor or lawyer, an accountant and we treat our farmers as peasants but not anymore.

“We are equipping our youth for the future in farming, giving them the necessary knowledge and understanding of the importance of agriculture as it relates to food and the environment, and the multi-functionality of territories of the Caribbean region.”

“Only recently Guyana has exceeded 300,000 tonnes of rice as the first crop production for 2014; it is the first time in our history as well as the Caribbean’s history. Last year we produced 535,000 tonnes of rice and we are working to achieve 600,000 tonnes in 2014 which seems like a real possibility. And it is possible because of science and technology; it has transformed the agriculture industry in Guyana and in our region,” Ramsammy said.

GENETIC SCIENCE
He said further that there is a group of Guyanese scientists at the Rice Research Center using genetic science to produce crops that can withstand the adverse weather while producing more in the same given land.
“We have grown and reaped our first batch of ‘Irish’ potatoes, carrots and beets, and this is because our farmers are now equipped with the tools needed,” Ramsammy said.

And with what CAPE has done in launching these new subjects,he said, “we will see the Caribbean students’ willingness not to imitate what the world set out for them but to lead.”

FIVE NEW CAPE SUBJECTS
The five new CAPE subjects for teaching in September 2014 and the first examination in 2015 are Agricultural Science, Entrepreneurship, Performing Arts, Physical Education and Sport, and Tourism.
The five subjects will be launched in five CXC participating countries, with each event having a specific subject theme. The first launch took place on Friday, May 9th in Barbados and the theme for the event in Barbados was Tourism.

On Thursday, May 15, the launch will continue at the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce Headquarters, Westmoorings, Port of Spain and the theme in Trinidad and Tobago is Entrepreneurship. St Lucia will host the launch which focuses on the Performing Arts on Friday, May 16th at the Sir Arthur Lewis Community College (SALCC) and the final launch will take place in Jamaica on Tuesday, May 20th with Physical Education and Sport as the theme at The Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, starting at 10:00 am.

CXC is partnering with various stakeholders to host the different events. These include the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO), the Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Cultural Development Foundation (CDF) of St Lucia, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute (CARDI) and various tertiary institutions in Jamaica.

The introduction of the five new subjects follows the launch of Digital Media in September 2013. This now brings the total number of subjects offered at CAPE to 30.

Source: https://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/12/ramsammy-hails-agriculture-as-ticket-to-a-prosperous-future

Guyana Learning Channel has built 15 transmission facilities across the country as part of its programme to ensure coverage.

According to the Ministry of Education yesterday, it has now reached as far as Ituni, in Region 10.
The Ministry disclosed that it will soon be commencing a monitoring and evaluation programme to ascertain whether residents are indeed receiving the channel. This exercise will also seek to address any other unintended technical issues that might otherwise prevent residents from proper access to the channel.
The Ministry will also be conducting awareness sessions to teach residents how to access the signal. The next transmission facility to be completed is earmarked for Karasabai, Region Nine.
“The Guyana Learning Channel was launched on April 1, 2011 under similar principles as Public Educational Broadcasting Services around the world and Open Education assumptions ascribing to creative commons copyright principles,” the release said.
It is a satellite communication network that facilitates the production and nationwide broadcast of educational programmes.

The spotlight on the initiative came to the fore last year after it was disclosed in the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly that Dr. Ranjisinghi ‘Bobby, a close friend of former President Bharrat Jagdeo, was being paid $3.6M monthly to put the Guyana Learning Channel on the air.
“The Guyana Learning Channel has the use of a teleport that was created at the time of its set-up since there was no other teleport capable of up-linking video signals in existence in Guyana before or since,” Manickchand said then.
According to the Minister, every wireless communication device utilizes electro-magnetic spectrum and the Learning Channel has minimized use of the electro-magnetic spectrum by reusing the same channel in different regions of the country such as Channel 3 in New Amsterdam, Lethem, Mabaruma and Ituni, and Channel 10 in Kwakwani, Orealla, Linden and Port Kaituma.

She said that for the Learning Channel to send the signal to the satellite, it would have had to set up a commensurate service that would have required an initial capital outlay of US$150,000-plus monthly recurring costs of over $4M in bandwidth rental and associated services.
Manickchand stated that the Learning Channel is using “the only teleport capable of up-linking video-signals in existence in Guyana.”
She added that because the Learning Channel’s bandwidth is bundled with the bandwidth of TVG they are able to negotiate better rates from the satellite operators.
Access to the Learning Channel in Region One is in the areas of Mabaruma, Morawhanna, Hosororo, Port Kaituma and Arakaka.

Region Two is getting from Georgetown and not from Anna Regina due to a technical issue, the Minister said. She noted that soon other communities on the Essequibo Coast, including Santa Rosa, Saint Monica, Pomeroon, and dozens of other surrounding communities will be benefitting from the learning Channel.
Bartica from Mora Point, Saint Edward Mission, Cuyuni area and mining camps are where the Learning Channel is broadcast in Regions Seven and Eight.
Access to the Learning Channel stretches across the coast, from Parika, Rosignol to New Amsterdam and up the Corentyne Coast to Skeldon and Black Bush Polder and other areas.

The Channel also reaches Linden and Kwakwani in Region Ten, Mahdia and its environs in Region Eight, Annai, Lethem, Nappi, Sand Creek, Aishalton and their environs in Region Nine.

The village of Orealla in the Berbice River would be able to receive the signal of the Learning Channel soon, as would Karasabai and its environs in Region Nine and Ituni and its environs in Region Ten.
Communities in valleys and outside of signal reach will have dishes and receivers for direct satellite feed in community centres and learning resource centres. Among those communities are Paramakatoi and Imbaimadai. Matthews Ridge will receive a transmitter for access by all in collaboration with the mining companies in that area, the Minister said.

Source: https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/09/learning-channel-has-built-15-transmission-facilities-across-the-country-education-ministry/

HISTORY was created yesterday when one physically impaired and nine visually impaired students of the Guyana Society for the Blind sat Human and Social Biology at the CSEC examinations as the first of five subjects they are registered to write.

Their participation facilitated by a voice-aided computer software, the ten students: Rosemarie Ramitt, Leroy Phillip, Odessa Blair, Diane Singh, Anthony Robinson, Douglas Tika, Roy Stewart, Muesa Haynes, Vishaul Mohabir; and Laurel Lewis, who is physically impaired, wrote the exams at the African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA) building in Thomas Lands, Georgetown.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand described the event as one that went through a procedure of good planning. She expressed how inspiring this event has been to her, stating that it was a remarkable feeling to know that, despite their respective disabilities, the students opted to pursue their education, and not limit themselves.

She admonished the students not to be fearful, and stressed that their persistence to throw off limitations and achieve equality was admirable and very commendable.

Manickchand also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF) team, which was the driving force of the initiative and which paved a way for all this to be possible through comprehensive planning by Coordinator of the programme, Ganesh Singh.

She indicated that such a programme — which is historical, since no country in the Caribbean has ever had so many disabled students writing the exam electronically — is a manifestation of the Government’s commitment to provide better education to Guyanese.

Training was provided to the students who sat the examination by OLPF staff members, who also rendered assistance in maintaining the laptops.
Coordinator of the project and member of the Guyana Society for the Blind, Ganesh Singh, who has been instrumental in setting up the programme, explained that teachers were provided for the students for an eighteen-month training by the Ministry of Education.

The students, ninety percent of whom are blind or visually impaired, sat the exam independently, since they were trained to accurately use the keyboard. The examination was designed in such a way that a softcopy would be downloaded onto their laptops and the voice automated software would read the examination paper to them. The exam personnel would then print the answer sheets and they would be presented to the CXC Exams Division.
Project Manager of the OLPF project, Margo Boyce, was delighted to know that the initiative, launched a few years ago by the Government of Guyana, is having such a tremendous impact on the society. She noted that “it is equally important that we remember those who are disabled or impaired, and render assistance so that as much potential can be tapped into.”

Source: (By Ravin Singh) http://guyanachronicle.com/2014/05/09/guyana-society-for-the-blind-olpf-create-history-at-csec-examination

The Resource Unit for the Visually Impaired was established to give special needs students the opportunity to receive quality education in a much more conducive environment.
Yesterday, the unit located on Albert Street, Alberttown was officially commissioned by Education, Minister Priya Manickchand.
There was an existing building. Some $7M was used to transform the building to accommodate the programme.
Recognising that not enough emphasis was being placed on Special Education Needs (SEN), Government through the Education Ministry constructed this institution to ensure that such children are much more comfortable, allowing them to excel both recreationally and academically.

Minister Manickchand stated that it is universally accepted that education is the one sure way of changing circumstances. She said that Government understands that if it’s to take Guyana to higher levels, it must invest in the education sector, and throughout the years there has been a consistent commitment in this regard. The Education Minister said that noticeably, there have been tremendous results because of these investments.
“We are at a place now where we can truly expand and look at things where perhaps we have not been looking at carefully before…how we educate our children with special needs had not gotten the kind of attention it deserves if we are to properly meet the needs of children with special needs,” Minister Manickchand noted.

“Over the years, we have spent a lot of time, interest and money in changing that and so now we have far better infrastructure even though there is better we can do, we don’t have exercise books shortage and we have been meeting basic needs…overall the sector has done better,” Minister Manickchand explained.

Meanwhile, Principal Education Officer, Baydewan Rambarran, said that this was another step in the continuation of providing quality education.  Educating special needs children, he said is very important and the commissioning of the Unit is evidence that the ministry is determined to ensure all children receive the education that is much needed for their individual development.
Chief Planning Officer and Chairperson of the National Commission on Disability, Evelyn Hamilton said that the ministry is becoming what it should be, a learning organisation where every child can receive quality education.
Over the next five years, the ministry will be developing a data base for Special Education Needs (SEN) to screen children of Nursery and Primary levels, conduct community-based child-find surveys of children not in school system and record annually the number of SEN children in the school system.

“We at the MOE intend to see that SEN children’s access to educational opportunities increase within the plan period. This will be done through a multifaceted approach that will see us publicising the policy guidelines for SEN children accessing educational opportunities, improving the quality of education service delivered by special schools, fast-tracking urgent repairs and rehabilitation works to special schools and mainstreaming SEN children over the five-year period,” Minister Manickchand stated.

Focus will also be on increasing SEN children’s access to educational opportunities by improving the quality of education offered, implementing policy guidelines and fast-tracking urgent repairs and rehabilitation works for special schools.

The ministry will also be seeking alternatives for SEN children to acquire basic work and life skills, while teachers will also be trained in different areas to deal with such children.

Source: (GINA) https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2014/05/08/education-ministry-commissions-special-facility-for-visually-impaired-students/