EFFECTIVE from the new school year, children will be admitted to nursery schools if they are three years old by June 30 of the year they are seeking entry. This announcement will, however, come with the requirement that parents work with their children to help the system to become successful.A series of meetings currently being held in nursery schools around the country has seen Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand holding sessions with parents who will be taking advantage of the offer. The meetings are aimed at building partnerships with the parents and urging them to do their part.
The most recent meeting at the Sophia Nursery School on Friday saw parents agreeing that their work with their children would be advantageous. They agreed with Ms. Manickchand that the desire for their children to pursue a better life than theirs could be achieved through education, beginning at the nursery level.
She pointed to the problems that most parents face, urging them to ensure that their children benefit and become better and enjoy a better life than their parents. “You have a duty to consciously live to give these children a better life than you ever had,” Minister Manickchand pointed out to them. She pointed out that the Ministry of Education is giving parents the facilities to enable this to happen, and the only thing that is being asked is the support of parents.
The Minister explained to the parents the need for the little ones to be potty trained and to be able to eat independently. Being able to do this, she stated would not detract from teachers having to attend to those who do not know how, thus taking away valuable teaching time.
“Everybody’s child will benefit if you all spend the six weeks remaining teaching your child to use the toilet and teaching them to eat,” Manickchand noted. She pointed out that many parents who have not yet begun to do these things will place their children at a disadvantage.
Parents were also made aware of an assessment which would be conducted on their children in order to gauge their standard of learning.
Manickchand pointed out that the intention is, that by the time the students have reached the level of Grade Four, they should be able to read and comprehend.

(GINA)