Education Minister announces plans to increase focus on quality output

- as extension to St Agnes Primary is commissioned

September 18, 2014, By KNews, Filed Under News, Source - Kaieteur News

While the need for improved infrastructure is seen as important and is gaining the attention of the Ministry of Education, of equal importance is the need for quality output.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, in the company of other education officials watches over pupils as they cut the ceremonial ribbon to commission the new facility.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, yesterday disclosed that her Ministry’s focus has shifted from merely improving access to education to improving learning outcomes. “We need the nation to rally around this new focus – our nation’s teachers, our nation’s parents, our nation’s students, our nation’s education officers. This is a new focus for the nation of Guyana and today we sound our call,” said Minister Manickchand.

In achieving this goal of quality output, Manickchand said that her Ministry will be looking to ensure that there are trained teachers with the requisite skills in the classrooms to deliver quality instruction.

She added that while there are currently some 70 per cent trained teachers in the system, her Ministry is aiming for at least 80 per cent in the next five years. “Even though we are going to have our teachers trained we are going to be re-training until we get it right,” added the Minister.

Her remarks came during the commissioning of an extension to the Church Street, Georgetown, St Agnes Primary School, yesterday. The extension is one that is expected to cater for 210 pupils.  Currently the school has a pupil-population of 629 and according to Minister Manickchand, the extension will allow for the entire school to become comfortable.

“We now have our children in beautifully appointed classrooms. We have to make sure that when they sit in those classrooms they learn…We have to make sure that when they sit in those classrooms we teach them and we have to make sure that when they exit at the various levels – primary, secondary and university – that they are exiting as quality persons who can take this country to the next step.”

Guyana today is able to boast universal primary education and is well on its way to realising secondary education as well. These are among the goals that the world had set for itself at the beginning of the new millennium.

The newly commissioned extension to the St Agnes Primary School

According to the Minister, Guyana, unlike some other territories, has already been able to achieve the important target of universal primary education. “The fact that we have got there is huge for us as a country. When we look at our ratings with other countries every single child of primary age in this country can access an education,” the Education Minister asserted.

She however, noted that the achievement of universal primary education has not been without some space challenges. And it was such challenges, the Minister said, that she was enlightened of soon after taking up the position of Education Minister in 2011.

According to her, she became aware, for instance, of the cramped state of affairs that existed at the St Rose’s High School and St Agnes Primary schools, both of which share the same Church Street premises.

Similar situations, she noted, have been observed in other sections of the country, and have been gaining needful interventions. “…This is an everyday job in the Ministry and we are very, very pleased to be able to allow St Agnes and St Rose’s to be less cramped,” said the Minister. While the extension may be viewed as a small undertaking it is in fact worth more than $26 million, she added.

“For us it was well worth it because of the many children it will serve and the many benefits that will flow from having this extension,” said the Minister as she noted that the education sector is currently in a better place in terms of infrastructure.

She noted, “We continue with extensions to make it not just an achievement but to make sure that our children and teachers are comfortable. We know that making our environment child-friendly is very, very important.

“It is high on our list of priorities in the Ministry of Education and we commit to continuing to do that across the sector,” added the Minister.

Also speaking at the commissioning exercise yesterday was Assistant Chief Education Officer (primary), Marcel Hutson, who noted that while the Ministry recognises its crucial role there is also a need for parents to support the process.

Parents, he said, can help by “visiting the school to see how their children are progressing, and by working with teachers to make the necessary input for enhancing the chances of their children’s success.”

The extension was yesterday described as “a massive piece of work” by Head Mistress of the school, Ms Doreen Singh, who spoke briefly of the design of the structure as she welcomed the gathering to its commissioning.

The event was attended by pupils of the school, students of St Rose’s High and several senior education officials who witnessed the ceremonial ribbon cutting and the unveiling of the school’s extension plaque.

Source - http://www.kaieteurnewsonline....s-on-quality-output/