Resolve to attain higher performance, attendance – Chief Education Officer tells students, teachers during first day back at school

Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam today visited three schools in the city, Liana Nursery, Winfer Gardens Primary and St. Joseph’s High to ensure that teachers and students are prepared for the learning process to continue.

Throughout the country education officers participated in similar activities as schools reopened their doors after the two-week Christmas vacation.

While at St. Joseph’s High, Sam encouraged the CAPE and CXC students to work hard towards completing their School Based Assessments (SBAs) so that they can have as much time as possible for revision. He stated that the Education Ministry is re-enforcing that SBAs must be done early this year.

The students’ success is also being attributed to the pilot project which focuses on improvements in Maths and English. The programme which was introduced at the end of 2011 saw Guyana achieving four out of the eight CXC top awards in 2012.

Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam interacting with Fifth Form Students at St. Joseph’s High School, Woolford Avenue.

Results from the initiative shows that in 2012 the pilot schools did exceedingly well, with a 39.86% pass rate for Mathematics, compared to a 33% pass rate for the Caribbean, while in English, 52.05% passes with Grades One to Three were recorded in the pilot schools.

“We also want our students to commit themselves, make a resolution that their attendance and punctuality will certainly be the highest because we cannot get the level of output we aspire to unless our teachers and students are there on time and regularly, and do the work that is expected of them,” Sam said.

On the part of the Education Ministry, Sam noted that they are ensuring that the entire physical infrastructure is in tip top shape. While Sam is convinced that such has happened, nation wide, he explained that there is one exception and that is at the Watooka Day Primary in Linden, Region Ten.

Due to the removal of asbestos and sanitisation exercises the school is slated to be re-opened on Thursday.

Liana Nursery Students on their first day back to school.

Additionally, the Education Ministry is plugging its literacy drive through which better students are expected to emerge from the primary level. “This year we are using all of the indicators coming out of the assessments so that the necessary lessons can be learnt, (we) can make the necessary adjustments, use the technology more, that is available to us, and improve our students’ performance across the country,” he emphasised.

With regards to the availability of text books, Sam said schools are required to conduct book audits at the end of the school year, and once that information is fed to the Ministry they in turn replenish the needed books.