TODAY, the education sector in Guyana has risen like a Phoenix, like every other sector in Guyana, from the ashes of the PNC’s ruination of this land.During the PNC’s rule of Guyana, this country’s education sector plummeted from the zenith as the academic star of the Caribbean to the extent that, despite the much-touted free education, an entire generation was lost as bread and butter issues became paramount and parents could not send their children to school because they either had to fetch water for miles, join food lines every day, or take care of siblings while parents hustled foodstuff and basic commodities, running from one outlet to another to catch whatever commodity was available.
Or they had to help augment the family income in some way or another, especially at rapidly proliferating sweetie and cigarette stands placed at strategic locations around the country – the forerunner of the lawless street vendors and the equally lawless street vendors.
Many children could not go to school because parents could not afford school uniforms or books and school supplies; and children were fainting out of hunger in schools, while the dilapidation of school buildings had reached levels of near collapse, and actual collapse in some instances.
One remembers a fateful day when a student was hit by a vehicle and her lunch lit burst open to reveal two pieces of dried coconut.
Access to education in hinterland communities was almost non-existent. And all the foregoing is touching only the tip of the iceberg as they relate to the deterioration of the education sector in Guyana; except for the elitists in society, of course.
Conversely, over the last two decades, the education system in Guyana has undergone significant transformation in response to the emerging socio-cultural, economic and political needs of the society. These have necessitated shifts in the education philosophy and policy of Guyana.
In more recent times, greater attention has been paid to quality of education. Continuing the focus on improving literacy and numeracy at the basic level to ensure a good foundation for learners therefore remains important. This is in line with the recognition of the education sector’s contribution to both the material development of the country in the form of well-educated and trained human resources and the promotion of harmony, equity and respect among citizens of all races, economic groups, religions and gender.
The Ministry of Education (MoE) is dedicated to ensuring that all citizens of Guyana, regardless of age, race, gender, creed, physical or mental disability, or socio-economic status are given the best possible opportunity to achieve their full potential. This is being achieved through equal access to quality education as defined by the standards and norms outlined by the ministry. The commitment to quality and equity in education with no barriers in access to anyone is clear in this declaration.
The ministry defines education as “More than the instrumental activity for supporting greater national development or reducing poverty; even though it can contribute significantly to both of these objectives. It has intrinsic value. It is the main way to help each human being achieve his/her highest potential. It should be able to give the nation’s citizens the necessary knowledge, skills and values to lead happy and productive lives. On the basis of the education they receive, they should love their country and respect the diversity of its ethnic, religious and cultural traditions. They should adhere to the ideals and practice of democracy, justice, peace, diversity and accountability.
“In addition, although children are, and should be, the main focus of educational efforts, rapidly changing economic circumstances and developments in technology require that the ministry commit to a policy of providing continuing education and training opportunities to the adult population.”
Although private schools are encouraged to operate, the ministry is committed to providing free and compulsory education from the pre-primary to secondary levels. The ministry also remains committed to strengthening its partnerships with stakeholders, in particular teachers and their representative organisations, parents/guardians and communities.
The development of the 2008-2013 strategic plan was based on a participatory approach involving all stakeholders, including development partners, through a series of consultations to outline the challenges and impediments to education and to plan the way forward. The resulting strategy is the fourth in a series of education plans developed over the last two decades. It represents the priority policies and strategies that Guyana needs to pursue to make the country competitive in the global economy, as well as to realise its national development aspirations. It spells out clearly the vision and mission and provides philosophical rationales for the core values and the mandate of the Ministry of Education. It identifies and explains the major issues and constraints in the development of education and outlines the major strategic activities to be implemented to attain the desired policy objectives.
Education in Guyana is provided largely by the Government through the Ministry of Education and its arms in the 10 different regions of the country. Guyana’s education system is a legacy from its time as British Guiana, and is similar to that of the other anglophone member states of the Caribbean Community, which are affiliated to the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC). School curricula, funding, standards and other policies are set by the central government and implemented through the Ministry of Education and related agencies. The education system is divided into 11 districts, 10 of which correspond to the national administrative and geographical regions of the country, while the capital, Georgetown, is treated as a separate education district. With increasingly greater budgetary allocations by government to education, Guyana sits with Cuba, Iceland, Denmark and Botswana as among the few countries with top spending on education.
The statutory age for beginning compulsory education is five years nine months, and students are required to attend school until age 16. However, children who do not meet the statutory age to begin school are sometimes enrolled early or generally attend some kind of pre-school institution. To meet the requirements for compulsory education, students generally attend public schools, but there are a few private schools which offer education at one or all stages of learning; home-schooling is virtually non-existent in Guyana. The academic year usually begins in September and ends in July of the following year and with the exception of President’s College students, have a five-hour school day.
Guyana has a reading literacy rate at 92% of the population. Despite this high level of reading literacy, significant portions of the Guyanese population have functional literacy difficulties resulting in a lack of employability and other socio-economic disadvantages; this has caused government to push education as a tool in poverty reduction.
Guyana is one of the highest ranked developing countries in the Education Index of the United Nations Human Development Report.
According to DFID, Guyana has achieved the Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education.
To address core needs and ensure that each Guyanese child has equal opportunity to access education, the Government has made many interventions; such as the provision of free uniforms and school supplies; school-feeding programmes; building of new schools and renovation of existing ones; dormitories for children from hinteralnd communities; as well as scholarships to tertiary level education; establishing tech-voc, including IT training centres for school-drop-outs, among a plethora of others.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand had outlined a series of measures to improve students’ performance in English and Mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations in May / June.
Addressing hundreds of teachers, scores of parents and students in separate meetings convened at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Leonora, Stewartville and Zeeburg secondary schools, Manickchand said every effort will be made to bolster students’ performance in the two critical subject areas, notably Mathematics.
Guyana’s children have been once again topping the charts in academic excellence in the Caribbean and the rest of the world, thanks to the GoG’s relentless efforts to improve the education sector in Guyana.