On Saturday May 17, 2014, Guyana’s Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, was conferred an honorary doctoral degree by Lesley University for her outstanding work in advocating for social justice and gender equality. This comes in the wake of the Honourable Minister being honoured by Lesley University alongside South African Jazz Musician and Social Activist, Hugh Masekela, in 2010, for their demonstrated commitment and leadership to advancing gender and racial equality around the world.

A citation from Lesley University stated that: “Priya Manickchand, your life has been dedicated to improving the lives of women, children, and families within your country.  You have been a tireless advocate for the victims of violence and a spokesperson addressing the cultural and human conditions that give rise to the pervasive problem of gender-based violence….”

It further stated that: “As Guyana’s Minister of Human Services and Social Security, you were devoted to ending the scourge of violence against women and children.  Toward this end, you published a National Policy on

Domestic Violence, presented to Parliament for passage into law a series of bills relating to the care, development and protection of children, and initiated a countrywide campaign to stamp out sexual violence. That campaign realized a revolutionary Sex Offences Law being piloted by you and passed by the Parliament. You established your country’s only Childcare and Protection Agency and you expanded Legal Aid services from the capital city alone to 6 of Guyana’s 10 regions, making access to justice for Guyana’s vulnerable a reality. You also collaborated with the private sector to establish the Women of Worth economic initiative; a loan programme that provides low interest and collateral free loans to single-parent women from lower income brackets who wish to start up or expand their businesses.”

“In 2011 you were appointed Minister of Education and in this capacity you are currently leading change efforts by improving the quality of your country’s universal primary education and establishing universal secondary education.  You are a true visionary and were instrumental in establishing a relationship between Guyana and Lesley University. Recognising the need for qualified mental health professionals to address the needs of vulnerable youth, families, and communities, you worked with Lesley to develop a unique programme that educates school counselors and social workers to address the needs of the citizens of Guyana through Expressive Therapies, Counseling Psychology, and Mindfulness Practice.”

“In recognition of your life’s work in service to your community, especially to the end of violence against women and children, and the education of all Guyanese young people, Lesley University is honoured to confer upon you the Honorary Degree, Doctor of Humane Letters.  Presented in Boston, Massachusetts, on the 17th day of May, in the year Two Thousand Fourteen.”

After being conferred with the Doctoral degree Minister Manickchand addressed the graduates to a standing ovation. She stressed the importance of education in the deveolpment of the world. She said “Education is universally recognized as being one sure way to catapult change: to improve individual circumstances, to uplift families, to transform communities, to develop countries, to change the human condition for the better.

She told the graduates that a sure way of addressing and reolving the issues affecting the world that are identified and reflected in the Millenium development goals would be to attain gender equality. She said “This necessity to achieve gender equality and our inability to yet so do has been recognised and spoken about so much that the quest for gender equality has become a cliché. And while some gains have been forged, sadly and dangerously, frighteningly, we have not seen a shift towards attaining this most necessary status that is proportionate to the recognition for its necessity and commentary and promises that accompany that recognition….I ask you, today, whatever your passion, whatever you plan to pursue, wherever you work, wherever you live, that you ensure you consciously and strategically set about to use your value, the education and training you leave here with, to bring about gender equality.”

Honorary degrees are awarded to men and women who have achieved distinction in their chosen fields and professions. By their examples, honorary degrees recipients make tangible a set of values we aspire to as an academic community. These individuals are models to us because of their intellectual engagement, professional achievements, and civic commitment.

Also receiving an honorary degree along with Guyana’s Minister of Education from Lesley University, is world renowned American author of children’s books, Ms. Loris Lowry.

The staff of the Ministry of Education expresses warmest congratulations to the Honourable Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand, on the receipt of her Honorary Doctoral Degree from Lesley University.