FIFTEEN children, at the nursery, primary and secondary levels, graduated from Santa Primary School, in Santa Mission (Santa Amerindian District), Region Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), at a Thursday ceremony. Presidential Adviser on Governance, Ms. Gail Teixeira, who was guest speaker at the graduation, said, in moving up the academic ladder, not only the child benefits but the community and, by extension, Guyana as a whole.
Addressing the gathering, of students, parents, teachers, community members and supporters of livelihood in the village, she observed that, compared to years ago, Guyana has developed and offers more to its children.
Teixeira said Guyana, continuing on the path it is presently on, will look very different in the future and the success will be dependent on the children of today.
She exhorted parents to encourage their children to prepare themselves and take advantage of opportunities, so they will be well placed to participate in development.
“Allow children to be inquisitive and ask their questions,” Teixeira encouraged, as she reiterated that children of today would lead Guyana forward.
She also acknowledged that, in today’s world, children are pressed with many challenges.
“We have to be alert to these challenges and children’s parents should be there to pick them up, prop them up and keep them going,” Teixeira advised, noting that children are under much pressure today.
She said drugs, weapons and violence are the most dangerous of these worldly pressures and caution must be exercised as such challenges are faced.
“Parents have to talk to their children. Gone are the days when children were seen and not heard,” Teixeira maintained, advocating that the provision of services and skills assist children to do better for themselves.
She said the opportunities in this country are amazing and people can proudly say that Guyana is moving forward.
Outgoing headmaster, Mr. Gordon Cheong concurred and, in his annual report, said, together, parents and teachers must work harder to improve the performance of the schoolchildren.
He said, in comparison to last year, there has been a decline in passes, despite stakeholders involved in the education process at Santa Mission are doing all they can.
Boosted
Cheong said the interactive radio instruction (IRI) programme, in the area of Mathematics and the ongoing one in literacy and numeracy have boosted students’ performance in those subjects.
He highlighted the school needs as furniture; text books, particularly for the secondary department, the library and grades one and two in the area of science and an expansion of the school feeding programme facilitated by the Education Ministry, which is presently limited to grades one and two.
The school has 70 children on register and finance has been an area of concern for in the past year, worsened by the economic downturn, Cheong stated.
According to him, the school’s annual budget for 2009/2010 was $350,000 and, of that sum, only $200,000 was raised to support the operations.
“We have had to cancel education tours because of this,” he lamented, although the school still managed to succeed.
Cheong said one area of particular pride is the success the school has seen in sports, now that it is the Upper Demerara Softball Champion.
In his projections for the new school year, he said more focus is to be placed on literacy and numeracy in grades one and two to make sure a better foundation to better position the beneficiaries for success.
Cheong said the school will be collaborating with the Ministry of Education and other stakeholders to acquire more textbooks and a larger undertaking is the move to secure the two-year-old building.
Plans are in the pipeline to have the school fenced and the windows grilled to secure the resources from loss.
One of the school’s key supporters, Captain Gerry Gouveia of Roraima Airways, agreed that the most important thing is to inspire and motivate the youth of today.
His company adopted Santa Primary School some years ago and, since then, the latter has been supported in various ways.
The school has been meeting the educational needs of Santa Mission for the past 17 years and, two years ago, through support from the Ministry of Education, it moved into a new concrete building.
The only school in the community, it caters for nursery and primary level needs and has a secondary department, called primary tops, for older children.