THE Central Islamic Organisation of Guyana (CIOG), with support from the Zakaat House of Kuwait, has commissioned a spanking new $25M department at the Meten-Meer-Zorg Islamic Academy to better accommodate students pursuing a secondary education. Education Minister Shaik Baksh, speaking at a ceremony at the school on Wednesday last, lauded the investment and said his ministry is supportive of the development and expansion of private schools here.
These institutions, he said, also play vital roles in helping his ministry to eliminate illiteracy, modernise education and strengthen tolerance.
There are some 86 pre-primary, primary, and secondary private education providers in Guyana, but only 15 have been approved by the Ministry of Education.
According to the minister, the remainder will not be closed down but will be given time to put their house in order, noting that the new education legislation will set out the terms and conditions governing private education providers from the pre-primary to secondary levels.
Under that legislation which is before the Attorney General’s Chambers, the mandatory age for pre-primary education will be three years, nine months. This will allow Guyana to widen enrollment at that level which currently stands at 85 percent. Guyana has already achieved universal primary and secondary education.
He also encouraged private school teachers to seek formal training at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and announced that all education management workshops and training seminars conducted by the Ministry of Education will be open to them.
The Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programmes offered by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) will also be available to private school teachers free of cost, he said.
Baksh explained that this move is imperative, as it will allow for the achievement of acceptable standards of performance from students at private schools which, on the whole, account for just over five percent of the national student population of pre-primary to secondary school students.
He singled out the Meten-Meer-Zorg Islamic Academy for praise, pointing out that it has extended a reach to the rural communities covering a catchment area from Patentia to Parika, Region Three.
Baksh also called on parents to play an integral role in their children’s education and urged the school’s administrators to aim for excellence from their learners. He called on them too to impart to their students sound values of democracy, ethics and citizenship.
He noted that his ministry has instituted the programmes and measures to transform performance at both the primary and secondary schools, and he urged teachers to put their shoulders to the wheel to achieve better results from their charges.
The school has performed well at the last National Grade Six Assessment and CSEC examinations, recording a 72 and 87 per cent pass rate respectively.
CIOG President Fazeel Ferouz expressed gratitude to the donor for making the expansion of the school a reality, and urged the school’s administrators to ensure proper care of the investment.
He noted that the school has been doing well and also called on its teachers to do even better, as he wants the institution, which is one of four other schools managed by the CIOG, to be the best in the country.
Brother Shaik Moeenul Hack of the CIOG thanked Minister Baksh for his gesture towards private school teachers, and said his vision is for the Meten-Meer-Zorg Islamic Academy to achieve 100 per cent passes at the CSEC and national examinations.
He underscored the importance of education to the development of Guyana and the eradication of social ills in society, notably domestic violence, pointing out that the head and not the hand must be used to resolve disputes.