THOUSANDS of schoolchildren throughout Guyana, ceased classes from 9:00 hrs yesterday to discuss and reflect on the significance of observing International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (IDEVAW), and to bring into special focus the issue of domestic violence in Guyana. This exercise involved all students and teachers from nursery, primary and secondary institutions nationwide.

Over 200 volunteers from across the country from diverse professions and political persuasions, unified on a single purpose of spreading the message of eradicating violence against women, and domestic violence, to young attentive minds in the school system. Led by members of Cabinet, Members of Parliament, Educators, Managers, businesswomen, the Men’s group and a number of other professionals with deep interests in the issues of domestic violence and violence against women, they took their messages to the next generation of Guyanese leaders.

The Ministry of Education said that, based on reports received, all schools participated in this initiative. This means that 25,543 nursery, 87,747 primary, 75,425 secondary, and 9,133 tertiary students were all engaged in discussion on these issues at the same time. Region 9 schools did their session in the afternoon. Until now, this could probably be the single largest simultaneous conversation ever held on this issue in Guyana.

The initiative was led by the Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand – who visited the Cyril Potter College of Education to raise awareness amongst trainee teachers. The minister expressed deep gratitude to all the persons who volunteered in this very necessary exercise. “Violence against women and domestic violence are two major issues affecting the lives of women in the world and the development of countries every day. Confronting these issues requires a national effort, and I am inspired by the kind of overwhelming support that we had today nationally in our school environment. I encourage all to continue to keep the conversation going as together we galvanize significant action to free our country of this horror.”
The Ministry of Education, in a statement, said it is hoping to make this conversation on relevant social issues a regular feature of education in Guyana in the hope of causing change and inspiring a generation through education.
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