EDUCATION Minister Shaik Baksh has said extensive focus will be placed on the improvement of literacy and numeracy as well as the expansion of Information Technology (IT) in schools this year.

He stressed that emphasis on literacy and numeracy will be concentrated at the primary level, since that is a critical stage in building a solid foundation for pupils entering secondary schools.

Speaking at an end of year press briefing at his 21 Brickdam office, the minister pointed out that considerable attention will be given to pupils sitting the national grades two, four and six assessments.

In the area of IT, Baksh said the discipline will be expanded to primary, secondary and tertiary institutions as a teaching tool and learning instrument.

He is hoping that at the end of his ministry’s five year strategic plan, 50 per cent of primary schools will be equipped with laboratories with secondary and post-secondary institutions achieving the full 100 per cent target.

Baksh however said funding for the project and training of teachers to impart the programme still remains a challenge.

He stressed too that a national science coordinator has been appointed to encourage more secondary students to pursue studies in discrete sciences, namely Chemistry, Physics and Biology.

The Minister also underlined that efforts will be made to overcome the inequality in the education system to obtain satisfactory results from all education districts.

“We have to work with the Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs) and the communities to ensure that schools within low performing areas do better,” he said.

More resources will be allocated to the disadvantaged sections of the school system, in particular schools in North Georgetown.

He pointed out that work will be done to boost teachers’ motivation which was a major challenge in 2008, and to continue professional development.

Baksh acknowledged that while remuneration is the major cause of de-motivation and one which must be addressed, generally he is of the impression that teachers are not living-up to their full expectation.

The minister said there needs to be a paradigm shift to change the approach to education and this entails working at the school level to get teachers to be more dedicated to their work.

“I challenge all of the education managers at the central ministry to work in this direction, to get our teachers to be self-motivating; and if we can do this, I think many of our problems in the education sector in terms of the delivery of quality education will be solved,” he contended.

Baksh pointed out that he is looking forward to working with the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) along this line in 2009.

This year, he said too, students’ registration at the University of Guyana (UG) will be done on-line and lecturers’ late submission of students grades will be addressed, hinting that sanctions will be instituted.

“We have reviewed the university’s strategic plan and we have to bring about some changes in 2009 to ensure that the university is better prepared to face the challenges of development and provide the human resources at both the graduate and post graduate levels to produce the graduates employers will want to employ in the public and private sectors,” he told the media.

Government in 2008 allocated the highest per cent of the budget to the education sector and Baksh is hoping this commitment continues in 2009, noting that Guyana invests more money in education than any Caribbean territory.

Last year government constructed 23 new schools, nine nursery, 10 primary and four secondary schools.

He said while 2008 had its challenges, resounding success was notable in a number of areas, particularly with the Education Month community outreach activities which will continue in 2009.

The minister also highlighted that despite the minor negatives, Guyana outperformed the rest of the Caribbean in the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examination (CSEC).

“We got the top students in five areas, the best overall student, the best technical and vocational student, the best science student, the best business student and the best student in agriculture science,” he disclosed.

The minister acknowledged that improving students’ performances at the national grades two, four and six assessments was a major challenge, but noted that his ministry has undertaken a number of measures to improve the outcome this time around.