More in remote areas to get secondary education
GOVERNMENT will be expanding Annai Secondary School in Region Nine (Upper Takutu/Upper Essequibo) with the aim of increasing the number of persons in remote areas benefiting from that level of education. This initiative is also being executed with the intention of meeting the accomodation needs of the school’s growing population, Education Minister Shaik Baksh explained during a recent visit, where he met with teachers to listen to their concerns and provide answers on the way forward.
The school, which is located in a complex that houses dormitories for both boys and girls, currently has 470 students on roll and, recently, the dorms were upgraded and extended to cater for more students.
Baksh also announced that the school will receive a number of computers, in January next year, to commence the information technology (IT) programme, for which teachers, too, will be trained.
A computer library will be established with Internet services, in keeping with the ministry’s thrust to make every student and teacher, at the secondary level, computer literate.
The school, which had a shortage of Mathematics teachers, performed poorly in the subject at the recent Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations but, recently, the Education Ministry was able to address the problem, Baksh observed.
He urged the newly assigned Mathematics teachers to reverse the poor showing in that subject and indicated that he will be monitoring developments in this regard.
Baksh said the ministry will also be providing the school more DVDs with complete lessons in English and Mathematics, at the CSEC level, as well as a quantity of books to foster a culture of reading among students.
The teaching staff, which comprised several voluntary overseas teachers, made a number of requests, among others, for more furniture, timely supply of fuel and a pump capable for distributing water to all the buildings in the complex.
Minister Baksh noted them and indicated that they will be brought to the attention of the region’s top officials.

Keen attention
Addressing the students, he challenged them to stay focused, pay keen attention to their studies and settle for nothing less than the best.
He told them to dream big dreams as they are the country’s future leaders.
Meanwhile, the ministry is working with regional officials to set up a Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) centre at Lethem to train youths in various skills, with the hope that they would establish their own businesses and lead discipline, constructive and productive lives, Baksh stated.
He said education is recognised as one of the most fundamental building blocks of human development and one of the strongest instruments for reducing poverty, improving health, gender equality, peace and stability. That is why, since its ascension to office in 1992, the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) 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 number of subjects in which high grades are recorded, he said.
Baksh added that the Government of Guyana continues to implement strategies that will bring about a major transformation in the education sector, taking the country one step further in its development.