Equitable investments in education paying off

Education Minister Priya Manickchand has noted that Government’s equitable investment in education has paid off, and this is reflected in the National Grade Six Assessment results that saw 241 candidates from schools in Regions 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 10 gaining marks that made them eligible for entry into President’s College, the country’s top ranked secondary institution.

NGSA Top Student Salma Majeed, Georgetown

This, the Minister noted reflected the fact that students from city schools are no longer taking the cream of the results. “We see that not only children in Georgetown are doing well, but children across the country. We are going to continue to ensure that these results are maintained,” she stated.

NGSA top students 2013 from Georgetown

One of the focal areas of the PPP/C administration has been bettering education delivery across the country, in recognition that an educated populace is the key to the development of a nation. This recognition has led to greater attention being paid to equality by the Education Ministry. As such, schools outside of Georgetown now have better access to quality education, through the delivery of teaching aids, text books and teacher training to better administer the school’s curriculum.

Region 10 top NGSA students

The construction of modern educational institutions around the country along with the development of the Education Strategic Plan crafted to identify priority policies and strategies, have been aspects pursued. These moves have seen the quality of output being significantly improved through the results of the various examinations throughout the 10 Administrative Regions. Increased placement in schools at the various levels has also been achieved at various levels.

Sarah Hack, Guyana scholar from Region 2

This attention by the administration has contributed to Guyana’s achievement of the second Millennium Development Goal of universal access to primary education. However, the Minister pointed out that there is still work to be done on the quality of education delivered.

Strengthening the system

The strengthening of the system is being addressed in many aspects, and this includes work on providing trained teachers. Even though Guyana has moved from having 30% to now having 70% trained teachers in the system, “we have now to achieve the corresponding shift in results…we have definitely seen children doing better,” Minister Manickchand noted.

One of the major issues in this regard is providing accommodation for teachers going into the hinterland. This is being addressed, she said, and pointed out also that while the paperwork indicates that there are 184 more trained primary school teachers than are needed, this is not so on the ground, “Mainly because some of them don’t want to go into the hinterland and the accommodation issue.”

In terms of resources, Minister Manickchand said that beginning in September, each primary school child will have four text books to take home relevant to the class age. These texts will be for Mathematics, English, Social Studies, Science, and a reading book. The Ministry will also be looking at the delivery of the curriculum in the various areas.

Arvindra Gammell top 2013 NGSA student from Region 2

Spending, benefits and investments

The sum of $26.5 billion was expended in the education sector in 2012. Of that amount, $2.9 billion was spent on construction, extension, rehabilitation and maintenance of additional educational facilities countrywide to ensure increased access. The School Feeding Programme benefitted over 64,000 students while the National School Uniform Programme benefitted over 190,000 children in nursery, primary and secondary schools. Over 2,960 teachers were trained in Information and Communication Technology.

For 2013, $28.7 billion was allocated to the sector under the National Budget, bringing to a total the amount of $139 billion being allocated over the period 2008 to 2013 to finance the National Education Strategic Plan.

This year, the physical infrastructure of schools and other educational facilities countrywide will benefit from an investment of over $3 billion of which $1.1 billion is budgeted for the School Feeding Programme.

Ashay Narine, top NGSA student 2013 from Region 2

Emphasis will continue to be placed on increasing the presence of trained teachers in the classroom, and 409 newly trained teachers are expected to enter the education system in August 2013, while another 41 teachers will complete the requirements for certification under the Trained Teacher’s Certificate Programme, a further 68 in-service teachers in Regions 1 and 9 will continue to access the Trained Teacher’s Certificate, while 366 students will continue to access the Associate Degree in Education at the coastal centres  and Linden.

In an effort to strengthen the management and quality of staff members, lecturers and administrators, training will be conducted to ensure use of ICT in the delivery of the curriculum. This will complement the 35 IT labs which are expected to be completed in 2013, while 3,000 teachers will be trained in ICT literacy bringing us closer to the target of having all secondary schools equipped with computers and all secondary teachers trained in the use of computers for education delivery.