“EVERY child is born with a musical instrument; that instrument is the voice. I want the children in every school across Guyana singing again. When I was in school, we had assembly, and sang the national songs. I would like to see that come back with a lot of vigour.”This was the sentiment expressed by Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, during an interview with the Chronicle on Monday.
Dr Roopnaraine said his ministry was involved in the construction of a national choir which will make its debut performance during Guyana’s 50th Independence anniversary celebrations.
Teachers from several schools have been asked to select students and submit their names to the Ministry of Education to build the youth outfit to carry national and folk songs countrywide.
The minister said he recognises that children scarcely know national songs with a majority only versed on the first and last stanzas of the national anthem, ‘Dear land of Guyana.’
“This is a failure,” he said. And to counter this defect, the Ministry of Education will employ the services of some of the pioneers of the past, as well as more recent experts in the field.
A steelpan fabrication workshop will also be held before year-end to teach Guyanese to produce pan here, instead of importing from Trinidad and Tobago.
Dr. Roopnaraine further disclosed that government was working assiduously to upgrade the education system, making it complete with efficient, effective curriculum delivery, and equipping it with a variety of musical instruments and sport facilities, along with the human resources to carry out its new mandate.
The minister said he would like to see sports departments in every school as fitness is vital for development. He listed some of the sport activities being introduced in schools as: football, volleyball, basketball, cricket, circle tennis and table tennis. The ministry has also alerted the National Centre for Education Research Development (NCERD) in a move to undertake a comprehensive curriculum review to understand where adjustment is needed in a bid to eliminate illiteracy countrywide. He is dissatisfied with how the education system has over the years allowed the rate of illiteracy to rise with many students entering secondary schools being unable to read.
“I don’t know when was the last time it (curriculum review) was done, but I know we are urgently in need of it now.” At the end of the review the ministry will create a curriculum which resonates with the interest and needs of each child within the education system.
With the conversion of the ‘One laptop per family’ drive to the ‘One laptop per teacher’ programme, teachers will be similarly equipped to step ahead with the children, who already are exposed to certain programmes and information leaving teachers behind. He said though that programmes have already been in place to deliver better education, he had identified deficiencies in relation to delivery of such programmes, with many teachers delivering half of the curriculum in schools and the other half at private “bottom house” lessons. A compensation package for teachers who participate in the re-introduction of lessons in schools is being considered as the ministry moves to discourage private lessons which many parents cannot afford.
“They have reintroduced a kind of economic apartheid in the education system where only children of parents who can afford extra lessons benefit fully from what the curriculum offers. The teacher’s duty is to deliver the curriculum in school. Any extra lessons should be given in school [and] we could work out what kind of compensation we give to teachers who give extra lessons in schools,” he stated.
The minister added that Guyana needed a working education. It has transformed the grades two and four assessment examinations into diagnostic tests to determine the level of literacy and numeracy of each child.
“We will be tracking their performances [and] based on diagnosis, the ministry will be in a better position to understand the educational needs of the child,” the minister stated.