Stakeholders underscore importance of partnership to children’s education
EDUCATION Minister Shaik Baksh said, Tuesday, that the progress made in the sector, to date, is unsatisfactory but increased participation by parents will see change.
“The refocus is more emphasis to get parents on board with us,” he told a gathering of Parent Teachers Association (PTA) members, students, representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other education officials.
Mr. Baksh was speaking in Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal, East Coast Demerara, at a parent symposium hosted under the theme ‘Child Friendly Home: Child Friendly Classrooms – Quality Education’.
The aim of the forum, part of Education Month activities, was to provide participants with the knowledge and skills to become better parents and help them to create and maintain child friendly homes.
Baksh said it was one of the Ministry’s attempts to do more to involve parents and he charged those gathered to cooperate and do four things, in particular, by:
* ensuring that children are read to everyday, in the event that the parent cannot have a family member to do so, especially in the early childhood years;
* controlling, not restricting television time;
* ensuring that children are regular and punctual, which includes checking to see that, when they leave home, they, actually, get to school and liaising with teachers to enhance that monitoring system and
* providing reading materials for children.

He said he recognises the challenges these efforts pose to the more economically depressed areas but maintained the importance of partnerships.
“We are not oblivious to the problems we know, which is why partnerships are key,” Baksh said.
In that context, he alluded to initiatives being undertaken by the Education Ministry to assist less fortunate communities, including the school feeding and uniforms provision assistance, as well as moves to facilitate transportation.
Baksh emphasised that parents need to tend to their children’s educational welfare, if the latter are to succeed.
VISIBLE

He acknowledged that, in many communities, parents are not on board with the sector’s advances and their lack of participation is visible, particularly when considering the attendance rates in schools.
According to him, in some regions, the rate is 77 per cent, a far way behind the more than 90 per cent target set in the Education Sector’s Strategic Plan.
“We have to work together,” Baksh said, maintaining that it is the only way to succeed with the education sector’s agenda and bridge the achievement gap.
“The objective of the education system is to improve learning for all children,” he reiterated.
Baksh noted that, in the release of results for this year’s major examinations, much focus was placed on the top performers but said there must be emphasis at all levels.
He said an acceptable standard of education is what the Ministry is working towards and each child must emerge literate and numerate, with the ability to pursue more knowledge and enrich themselves intellectually and financially.
Baksh said, in that way, they will be able to make a more meaningful contribution to Guyana.
He announced that the expansion of a PTA initiative is in the pipeline and said the body will be linked to the Schools Welfare and Guidance and Counselling Departments.
According to him, those bodies have a direct impact on children and their development.
The Minister said parents have a duty to ensure their children are educated and urged a stronger partnership with the sector’s stakeholders.
He also invited the symposium participants’ input and assured of an implementation strategy to improve the Education Sector.
Baksh encouraged them to look at how involved parents are in the school system and whether or not the schools are encouraging this involvement, among other things.
He said a recent study revealed that parents feel excluded from school affairs  and that schools only ask them for money and do not consider themselves partners in the education process.
THREATENED

On the other side, Baksh said teachers have the feeling they are threatened and that their authority might be diluted.
Consequently, he said a balance has to be found, because most schools depend on the participation of all stakeholders for success.
As part of Tuesday’s programme, the symposium participants had discussions related to ‘Parents Role in the Education of their Children’, ‘Positive Parenting’ and ‘Alternative Ways to Disciplining Children’.
Baksh said the bottom line is sending a strong message about the value of  education to all parents and the need for them to recognise what is taking place and assume their role in advancing progress.
“We need a turnaround,” he appealed, positing that it should see parents being more appreciative of the value of education and their role in making their children’s education successful.
The symposium, the second such convened for 2010, was made possible with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
UNICEF Programme Officer for Education, Ms. Michelle Rodriguez said what is needed is a lifecycle approach to parenting programmes.
She remarked that Guyana’s education system needs to work towards sustaining families; finding ways to strengthen their capacity, especially fathers; ensuring development policies are both implemented and monitored and changing attitudes and enforcing best practices as they relate to addressing challenges.
Rodriguez said parents need to be consistent and balance the interactions between young children and teenagers.
She expressed the view that parenting is more than food and shelter, rather it is about children’s development, protection and participation and equal participation in decisions that affect their lives.
The general conclusion of those taking part was that the symposium is a good platform from which to advance the interests of children and their education, as well as how parents and guardians can be more involved in the process.