Baksh refutes Opposition charges, explains education policies
EDUCATION Minister Shaik Baksh has said headteachers in particular and teachers in general have a critical role to play in ensuring that Government gets value for its investment in the sector.
A release, from his ministry, said he made the pronouncement last Friday in his presentation during the 2010 Budget Debate in the National Assembly.
Mr. Baksh told the House that significant sums allocated to education is utilised for paying teachers’ salaries and, while many of them are dedicated to the job, there is still an unacceptable number whose performance is undesirable.
He emphasised, too, that the Government provides textbooks, uniforms and other support to teachers and schoolchildren free of cost and the environment exists for teachers to give of their best in the classroom.
Baksh, again, warned that the non-performers will not be spared as the Ministry is putting measures in place to make certain there is greater accountability and stewardship in the school system.
He said, in the hinterland, Government has built boarding houses for teachers and is offering an allowance of $30,000 to entice those from the coastland to render their services and address any shortage there.
In addition, Baksh said teachers in those parts of the country are routinely being upgraded through the distance education delivery mode which is being administered by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD).
The Minister acknowledged that teachers migration has been a setback to the school system but pointed out that more are being trained to alleviate the problem and the Ministry, in its five-year strategic plan, is seeking to ensure that at least 70 per cent of teachers in the schools are trained by 2013.
This September, Baksh said, his ministry will be introducing the two-year Associate Degree in Education Programme at Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and teachers who successfully complete the course will only have to spend two years, instead of four at University of Guyana (UG) to obtain the Bachelor in Education Degree.
The Minister also pointed out that, contrary to what People’s National Congress Reform-One Guyana (PNCR-1G) Parliamentarian Amna Ally believes, the Monitoring, Evaluation Reporting and Development (MERD) Unit is in operation and has been conducting workshops in the various regions.

Revised
Baksh informed the House that all curriculum guides have been revised and efforts are being made to ensure more teachers gain entry to CPCE.
He explained that the crash courses in the core subject areas offered by the college are intended to allow untrained teachers, who have been in the system since the 1980s, an opportunity to qualify themselves.
Baksh contended that Ally’s claim that considerable attention is being paid to the number of teachers leaving the college and less focus placed on quality is inaccurate.
He pointed out that there is a quality assurance system in place and it is being enforced.
Baksh said, this year, the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programme will be expanded and the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) will be introduced at Waramadong Secondary School from September.
Apart from TVET, he disclosed that considerable attention will be paid to the areas of information technology (IT), literacy and numeracy, teachers’ training and infrastructural development.
On a different issue, Baksh dismissed assertions, by the Opposition, that the education system is being politicised and informed the National Assembly that he has no power under the constitution to confirm the Acting Chief Education Officer.
Only the Public Service Commission (PSC) has the authority to do so, the release said he explained.