Education Ministry welcomes partnerships – Minister Manickchand
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has acknowledged the ongoing need for partnerships within the sector, notwithstanding the fact that the budget is its highest ever at over $28billion.
Minister Manickchand made the observation during today’s commissioning of a sanitary facility for the Kuru Kururu Nursery School made possible through a partnership with the Rotary Club of Guyana.
Sanitary Block constructed by the Rotary Club of Guyana
As she thanked the club for their support, the Minister observed that because the Ministry could not be in every school, every day, partners such as the Rotary Club may be able to see some of the issues more clearly since their involvement would allow them more regular contact.
Studies around the world have shown that where there are partnerships with government and community, the performance of all involved is greater she explained. “I am pleased to see that most of our schools are becoming child friendly. It’s a small statement but very significant.
Cutting of Ribbon by Hon Minister of Education Priya
Manickchand
Governments get blamed all the time if a school takes long or it is done badly, so they are very keen to ensure that doesn’t happen, hence currently the ministry is dealing with the challenge of getting value for money,” the Minister said. The club which started in 1994 undertook as its first project the rebuilding of the nursery school.
The school’s Headmistress Beverly Nedd stated that the school currently has approximately 138 students and she was very elated for the continuous contributions made by Rotary Club which has always answered the calls of the community whenever they were in need.
She observed that in 1999 when the school was overcrowded they were given an annex. A reading and research center was built and maintained by the Rotary so that the students in the community could access the internet, photocopying services and books.
She assured those present at the commissioning that the community will ensure that the relationship between the school and Rotary is long – term and care would be taken to ensure that the next generation of children will be able to benefit from the facilities.
Some of the children of the Kuru Kuru Nursery School
Another aspect of the partnership involving the school was seen through the auspices of the Bank of Nova Scotia. Funding for the project was obtained through the Bright Future Funding administered by the bank through which Caribbean countries can apply to the corporate head office for a project which they want to support when the local budget of the bank cannot accommodate the venture.
Managing Director Jennifer Cipriani-Nelson remarked that when she received the proposal they made the sacrifice on the grounds of the impact it would make.
Other sponsors involved in the building of block were Courts, Republic Bank, Safeway Security; Hand in Hand and Ready Mix Concrete Ltd.
The new sanitary block constructed and painted, has five lavatories, four of which are children friendly, shipped in from Miami and one for the teachers. Four sinks were also installed.
Minister Manickchand expressed pleasure that Ministers before her over the years would have overseen the building or refurbishing of more than a thousand schools. She observed that even though billions of dollars are put into fixing schools “every single day you can find a broken stairway or a leaky roof or a sanitary block that needs to be built. We can choose to spend our time criticising that or we can spend our time fixing the problems. In Guyana 85% of our population is in nursery schools all across the region so the next thing the Government is looking to do is to make nursery education compulsory.”
She extended an invitation to the Rotary Club to partner with the Ministry to help build a brighter Guyana.