REGION 2 is once again topping the country in the field of education.

This time, a senior mistress of the Charity Secondary School, Ms Patsy Jainarine, has emerged as the top student in the Education Management Certificate course 2010-2012, regionally and nationally.
Speaking at the 6th graduation and prize-giving ceremony in the Anna Regina Multilateral School multipurpose hall on Monday, Master Trainer Mr Maydha Persaud congratulated the graduates on their success and commended the Director of NCERD[National Centre of Education and Resource Development] and Mr Andrew Kartik for successfully coordinating another batch throughout the country.
Beginning his presentation with the thought that “a fish rots from its head”, Mr Persaud said it has been recognized that one of the key factors in influencing school effectiveness is the nature and quality of the leadership and management provided by each school head. According to him, the head is said to be the heart of an institution and his leadership style is its heartbeat.
According to Mr Persaud, a good and effective head must instill in his staff that good teaching is about substance and treating students as consumers of knowledge. He said the Ministry of Education is providing enormous financial, material and human resources, but in many cases, output is far below what is expected. He said a survey was done to ascertain the poor performance in some of the schools and it has been found that one of the factors responsible is poor leadership displayed by many of the heads. He said against that backdrop, the ministry, through NCERD, has embarked on the Education Management Certificate course in an attempt to improve school performance and to meet the needs of a child who sits in the class.
Persaud said the course first started in Guyana in 2000 as a joint effort of CIDA and the Ministry of Education. It was launched as a pilot project. The course is of 18 months duration and covers five school terms.
Region 2 Chairman Parmanand Persaud congratulated the graduates and encouraged them to use their new skills to improve the management of their respective schools. He said the regional administration fully supports the management course, while Vice Chairman Mr Samaroo said education management is very important and government is investing every year heavily in the sector.
Regional Education Officer Ms Leslyn Edwards- Charles said she is proud since Region 2 is the only region that has full passes at the Education Management Certificate course, and the student with the highest marks regionally and nationally.
The graduates were presented with certificates and trophies and were told that they have earned eight points towards appointment to senior positions.