A GINA Feature
EDUCATION is recognized as one of the most fundamental building blocks of human development, and is one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty, improving health, gender equality, peace and stability; hence since its ascension to office in 1992, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic has prioritised and modernised this sector. Investments in the education sector have proved fruitful, evidenced by the annual improvement in the overall pass rate at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and in the numbers of subjects that record high grades.

This year’s CSEC results
Guyana continues to improve its performance at the CSEC in several subject areas, and this year’s overall pass rate was recorded as 64.4 percent as compared to 66.2 percent last year.
The results for this year’s examinations were announced by Minister of Education Shaik Baksh on August 11 when he announced that the number of candidates shows that all the ministry’s interventions and programmes to ensure that more students are writing the CSEC examination are bringing results.

This year’s top performers, Anurada Dev of Queen’s College, and Shalita Appadu of New Amsterdam Multilateral, gained 15 Grade Ones each at the sitting of the May/June 2011 CSEC. Education Minister Shaik Baksh explained that the Caribbean Examinations Council will adjudicate and inform the respective countries as to the top performer based on established criteria.
This year saw 188 candidates achieving Grade One passes in eight or more subjects from schools including Mackenzie High, Abram’s Zuil Secondary, Saraswati Vidya Niketan, St. Rose’s High, St. Joseph High, Marian Academy, Anna Regina Multilateral, JC Chandisingh, Tagore Memorial and West Demerara Secondary.
In 2011, there were 70,000 subject entries, as compared to 62, 945 in 2010, showing an increase of 13 percent. Of the subject entries 26, 870 were males and 44,000 females.
For English A, the pass rate is 60.8 percent as compared to 59.2 percent in 2010, while in Mathematics there has been a decrease. In 2010, the percentage achieved was 34.5, while in 2011 it moved to 30.4 percent.
Mathematics is a great challenge, not only in Guyana, but across the Caribbean, and government continues to find ways to deal with this, including recruitment of teachers from overseas, since there is a shortage of Maths teachers locally. This is expected to boost the delivery of education in the hinterland and rural centres.
The Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and NCERD’s Non-Graduate Certificate in Mathematics are also aimed at boosting Maths performance.

CAPE results 2011
This year’s sitting of the May/June examination saw 627 candidates from eight secondary schools and two private centres writing the CAPE examinations, including Mackenzie High, New Amsterdam Multilateral, Berbice High, President’s College, Bishops’ High, Queen’s College, St. Rose’s High, St. Stanislaus College, and Adult Education.

The pass rate this year increased, recording 82.5 percent as compared with last year’s pass rate of 80.4 percent. Candidates were offered units in 23 subject areas, each comprising three modules; however, the Guyanese candidates offered 41 units at this year’s examination. The gender distribution of the overall pass rate is 29.6 percent for males, and a significant 52.9 percent for females.
In nine units, candidates obtained a 100 percent pass rate, while in the further 22 units, the pass rate was 75 percent or higher, in Grades 1 to 5. In seven units, candidates obtained a pass rate of 50 percent or higher, while in only three units, geometrical and mechanical engineering drawing Unit 1, pure Mathematics Unit 1 and computer science Unit 2, unsatisfactory performances were recorded.
Infrastructure spending on education
Government’s overall agenda of ensuring that the population is equipped with skills and academic qualifications to be viable and contribute to the development of the country continues to pay dividends as Guyanese students continue to excel.
Spending in the education sector has increased annually, reflecting Government’s commitment to the sector. This year’s allocation of $24.3B to the sector represents an increase of $2.5B over the 2010 allocation.
Over the years, spending in the sector has increased to allow for the construction and rehabilitation of schools across the country. Some of the schools constructed and rehabilitated include Lower Kaituma Primary; Mabaruma Primary; Cotton Field Secondary; Charity Secondary; Pomona Secondary; CV Nunes Primary; Sparta and Hampton Court Primary; Windsor Forest Primary; Greenwich Park Secondary; Hope Secondary; Diamond Secondary; De Hoop Primary; Mora Point Nursery/Primary; Tain Nursery and Primary; Waramadong Secondary; Jawalla Primary; Mahdia Secondary; Arapaima Primary; Baitoon Primary; Linden Foundation Secondary and Wisburg Secondary.

Teachers’ Training
To further enhance the delivery of education, government continues to invest in training teachers and a US$4.2M Guyana Improvement Teacher Education Project was initiated. Approximately $200M was budgeted in 2011 towards this programme, while a further $919M has also been budgeted for teacher training, with the aim of achieving the medium-term target of 70 percent trained teachers by 2013.
Over 500 teachers are trained annually at government’s expense at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). The CPCE Secondary School Academic Certificate Programme was initiated to reduce the number of untrained teachers in the school system.
Education Strategic Plan 2008- 2013
The 2008-2013 Education Strategic Plan is the fourth in a series of plans during the last two decades, to identify priority policies and strategies the education system needs to pursue in order to significantly improve the quality of its output.
Among the priority areas of the plan are quality education, universal secondary education, teacher education, technical and vocational education, inclusive education, school health, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, and monitoring and evaluation (M&E).
A US$20.5M Implementation Fund secured from international donors is aiding the plan.

ICT delivery
One of the major initiatives in the education sector this year is the focus on harnessing Information Communication and Technology (ICT), to aid the delivery of quality education. To date, this project has incurred $147M in preparatory costs, while $56M has been budgeted for its operations in 2011. This project facilitates the transmission of educational programmes in communities all across Guyana and will be accessible in the first half of 2011.

Work has commenced to have computerised laboratories in all secondary schools, while primary schools will benefit from a similar initiative. To complement this initiative, the first ever Education Television Broadcasting Service- Learning Channel, came into being.

School feeding, uniform initiatives
As efforts continue to improve access to education in Guyana, the administration embarked on several initiatives, including the ‘School Uniform Programme’ which yearly is allocated a huge sum.
About 200,000 vulnerable families, 30,000 of which are Amerindians from rural, riverine and hinterland areas, benefited from the programme through the allocation of $300M in this year’s budget. The allocations are as follows: 2006 – $77M; 2007 – $40M; 2008 – $55M; 2009 – $55M; 2010 – $55M; and 2011 – $300M.

Cognizant of the fact that good nutrition plays an important role in improving the concentration of students at school, $710M was allocated in 2009 and $800M in 2010 on a nationwide school feeding programme.
Over 100 primary schools in Regions 1, 8 and 9 benefited from the programme which was initially introduced as part of a poverty eradication project aimed at assisting families who are unable to provide sufficient meals for children. This and the school uniform programme have significantly improved school attendance and performance.

Technical and Vocational Education and Training
Government has advanced technical and vocational education and training with $1.6B budgeted to complete vocational centres in Regions 3 and 5, a student dormitory at the Essequibo Technical Institute, and the provision of tools, equipment, materials and furniture.

This ensures increasing numbers of students an alternative learning pathway.

Remedial programme
The low student performance at the Grade Six assessment and CXC, particularly in Maths and English, has been a major concern for the Education Ministry which has initiated remediation programmes during the July/August school break, targeting Grades 2, 3, and 4 at the primary level and Grades 7 and 8 at the secondary level.
The programme accommodates students who gained below 50 percent in their class tests. (GINA)