THE Ministry of Education continues to reach out to parents, teachers, head teachers and various stakeholders across Guyana with the aim of hearing their views and opinions on the implementation of corporal punishment, grade repetition, automatic promotion, and retention in the education system.

Yesterday, the Ministry held its penultimate consultation at the Queen’s College auditorium, and parents, teachers and other education officials participated and added to what is being done to strengthen and build the education sector.
Speaking at the forum, Education Minister Priya Manickchand implored those representatives from the various schools and educational bodies around Georgetown to frankly air their views and opinions on the different topics forming the basis of the consultation.
“We want to hear from you. We want to know how you feel about corporal punishment, grade repetition and automatic promotion,” Manickchand told them.
She said that over the last several months, the Ministry has been taking this consultation to the different regions with the same aim; and when this process has been completed, steps will be taken to implement what has been agreed.
“We have consulted with every teacher, head teacher, parents and stakeholders within the various regions,” she pointed out.
The minister said that irrespective of what warning had been given to teachers before arriving at the consultation, she preferred that that be all put aside in order that she might hear genuinely from these educators with regard to the topics under consultation.
“Nothing is wrong if you have different views. It all depends on what you believe, and nothing you say will offend us. We want your original views,” she stressed.
The Minister told the educators that it was all right for them to be frank about their feelings and thoughts on those different topics. She said this is the only way the Ministry could come up with the best strategies for students and the improvement of education in Guyana.
“Even if you feel that we have not been working well or working as we should have been doing; or if you think that we are doing everything ok, we want to know. I want you to know that you could feel free to speak and know that there isn’t going to be any repercussion,” she clarified.
Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer Olato Sam, who spoke briefly during the forum, said that oftentimes educators feel forgotten in many policy-making decisions. He said that this time around, every single one of them would be given the opportunity to play an integral part in further moulding the minds of children, while instilling meaningful morals and values in them.
He said that, oftentimes, teachers feel they are not given a proper opportunity in decision-making; however, now is their chance to speak. He said the consultation was to help the Ministry in redefining the sector and paving the path for a brighter education system in Guyana.
Out of the consultations that were presented to various regions across Guyana, it is the view of some teachers that corporal punishment should remain in schools to maintain discipline. Other teachers are concerned that corporal punishment could result in children being abused, and so they advocate that alternative forms of punishment should be considered.
After extensive research, the Ministry decided that automatic promotion is a better strategy than repetition, since retention has proven to be one of the main reasons for the social academic downfall.
While this has been decided, there are rules and regulations that come with automatic promotion.
Research shows that the application of grade repetition brings an extra cost with it, and it leads to a breakdown in the academic life of a person.
According to the Ministry, studies have shown that this has been one of the causes for the high school dropout rate being high, and this was one of the major concerns when the matter was being addressed.