At workshop opening…
EDUCATION Minister Shaik Baksh has emphasised the need for greater accountability from regional officials in his ministry.
He challenged them to meet that goal but acknowledged that there has been improvements in education management at the regional level. Mr. Baksh made the observations at the opening of a five-day workshop for District Education Officers (DEOs) in the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), on Battery Road, Kingston, Georgetown.
He told the participants, drawn from the different districts, that, while some education managers have been shouldering their responsibilities, too many are behind.
Baksh said some regional and DEOs are not knowledgeable about key areas in their regions that need urgent attention and supervision of the system in some regions is poor.
He reminded the gathering of the workshop theme ‘Efficient and Effective Supervision of the School Instructional Programme’ and said measures will be implemented to address the weaknesses, including rotating some officers in the effort to obtain better results.
Baksh reiterated that accountability is a top priority of his ministry and said the Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Development (MERD) Unit, which has been visiting the regional education departments and selected schools countrywide, has noted several concerns that must be looked into and addressed.
He also maintained that greater supervision and monitoring are needed at the school level and DEOs have to fulfill their roles and responsibilities in those regards.
Baksh announced that, soon, administrative officers will be appointed in the respective regions to handle matters of data collection, reporting and other related duties.
He said that intervention would allow the DEOs more time to be in schools and offer support and professional advice.
Baksh said a recent survey, conducted in 26 schools, found stark evidence of poor leadership, including incidents where headteachers spend most of their time in the office and are not aware of what is happening in the classrooms and the reading ability of their students.
Reports
In addition, he said there are reports of teachers being absent and headteachers not punctual at work, which, on occasions, affect the timely delivery of the instructional programme.
Baksh said the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) also has to look at those issues as they will be raised when he meets with its officials in August to negotiate a new pay package for the members.
He said, although he is not satisfied, the Government has been, steadily, increasing teachers’ salaries and benefits over the years and remuneration should not be an excuse for poor performance.
Failure to provide an efficient education service is unacceptable, Baksh declared, calling for guilty teachers to be reported to the Teaching Service Commission (TSC) and not be allowed to easily obtain promotion and continue their irresponsible attitude to the job.
He said the Government has invested heavily in the education sector and expects nothing less than the best supervision, delivery of quality and leadership from the various education managers.
In that context, Baksh said his ministry is looking to revise the issuance of certificates to teachers who complete the education management programme administered by NCERD.
He disclosed that 700 school managers have, so far, completed the course and, while some have started to apply what they have leant, the majority are yet to do so.
Evaluation
Baksh said the completion would not mean automatic issuance of certificates to the participants, pointing out that this will only happen after an evaluation is undertaken on their school improvement plan as well as their management quality.
He said, though there are some challenges, teachers must be dedicated and committed to the job, as the delivery of quality education must not be compromised.
During the workshop, the DEOs will be enlightened on how:

* to apply newly acquired knowledge and skills in a professional manner to address general and specific issues;

* to demonstrate effective administrative skills in the management and supervision in the delivery of education and

* how to practice accountability through good record keeping.