Education Minister to top performers: “your country needs you”
Nov 01, 2017 , https://www.kaieteurnewsonline...r-country-needs-you/
Over the years a number of top academic performers, who graduated from the local school system and went on to pursue higher education, have opted to make a name for themselves in overseas lands. But Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry, is advocating for local top performers to give keen attention to serving Guyana.
As she delivered an address to top performers who were recently duly awarded at the National Cultural Centre, Minister Henry made it clear to her young audience that they are in fact the future of Guyana.
“You young people are Guyana’s future; your country will stand on your achievements in Agriculture, the Sciences and new industries that you have not yet invented…your country needs you because you will make Guyana a much more interesting place and certainly a better place to live,” she asserted.
Even as she made her appeal, the Minister pointed out that “every time you put your education first, you give yourself unlimited choices, and you will not be restricted, because your knowledge is what will set you free…free to experience all that life has to offer.
As you continue your educational journey, you will realise your path is full of choices…choices to advance your knowledge and what you will be passionate about and what you are passionate about, and how you can serve your community and by extension your country”.
In order to ensure that students are given every opportunity to reach their fullest potential, the Minister said that her Ministry is committed to not only equipping but also educating and empowering teachers, “to produce young people who can be whatever they want to be.”
It is for this reason, Minister Henry said, that the Education Ministry will not limit students from writing as many subjects as they are capable of, in achieving their desired goal.
This is in spite of a standing circular which limits students of senior secondary schools to 10 Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate [CSEC] subjects and those of junior secondary schools to six. According to Minister Henry, alternative provisions are in place for students who prove to be exceptional.
It was to those who were named among the exceptional performers for 2017 that the Minister directed her recent remarks. She pointed to the fact that even with their outstanding abilities, students will be looking to others for guidance and a great deal may very well be forthcoming.
Advice from the Minister herself is not unlikely too. According to Henry, she is not only thrilled to meet with students, but also willing to speak with them to better understand their focus and determine ways to help them refine it.
As such, the Minister advised the youths to “make notes of your hopes and dreams in a journal and start your roadmap to success. Your ambition should be your mission, don’t let other people tell you who you are or what you can achieve; don’t let the clutter and distraction of other voices stop you from hearing your inner voice and achieving your destiny”.
But there can be some challenges to reaching the desired goals.
According to Minister Henry, “I know the effects of peer pressure, and that is why I ask that you be strong and brave, and know that you may walk along your road alone for a while, but one day you will meet a crowd of people who have done exactly the same thing to meet you on your path, and you will carry on together”.
The Minister urged the country’s top performers to always seek to “ask the right questions and keep on asking and seeking out answers.” She stressed that his attitude, coupled with their continued quest for knowledge, will help the students to truly excel.
“You should be proud that you have made the right choices…it takes fortitude and focus to be at the top of the class…at the top of nation. As the saying goes, if you plant plantain, you cannot reap cassava, what you put in is exactly what you will get,” the Education Minister asserted.
