TOP academic performers for the period 2014-2015 were yesterday awarded for their excellent performances in their various disciplines, as “they exemplify the high standards of the country’s educational system.”President David Granger made this observation yesterday while addressing a packed audience of youngsters as well as the awardees at the National Cultural Centre.
The President also asserted that over the next 15 years teachers will all get the opportunity to achieve tertiary education, in an effort to ensure that every single teacher is trained. This should be the turning point for Guyana’s education system, he added.
“Every school must have a proper laboratory and library, students must have access to the information system, must be able to connect to the internet, every single school must have Wi-Fi, as these are the policies which will be the foundation on which we will fashion our education system and form a basis for social cohesion,” the President said.

INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
The President also noted that Guyana is in need of a properly developed education system to extend access to the “information superhighway,” so as to support the education of the entire nation.
He also made the point that “it is the duty of the state to provide education that would include curricular designs to reflect the cultural diversities of Guyana and disciplines that are necessary to prepare students to deal with social issues and meet the challenges of the modern technological age.”
The education system, Granger added, must aim to ensure that students graduate with the knowledge and skills that would allow them to secure gainful employment, contribute to the development of society and be able to participate not only in Guyana, but also in a highly competitive global economy.
In that light, he charged not just the awardees but the many students present to not quit, but to go on to the third level.
However, the President observed that “from the beginning to the end secondary schools have not been producing the desired results, as half the students might not even be qualified to be there, and these performances impact on the quality of results being seen.”
He then drew attention to the fact that more than half of the students who wrote English Language and Mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) exams secured unsatisfactory passes, while in the core science subjects such as Chemistry and Physics there has been an unacceptable knowledge base.

‘EDUCATION APARTHEID’
The President also pointed to the troubling disparities between the coastland and hinterland regions, with regard to the delivery of education.
“The top five secondary schools being the same as they were many years ago, all located in Georgetown, is good for those students. However every region must have a secondary school that must be not only in the top five, but top 10,” said President Granger, while asserting that if they do not build a connection between Georgetown and the hinterland, there will be ‘education apartheid.’
He also urged that action be taken to avert the danger of children being separated along lines of gender, social class and geographic locations. “We must arrest the decline and reduce disparities in the performance between regions and coastland, while better preparing graduands for the world of work.”
And observing that “a pyramid of educational division has been developed,” the President acknowledged that a large number of private schools are at the top and public schools are at the bottom.
The private/public divide has given the advantage to private institutions and opened a gap which is starting to widen. However, the gaps must be overcome, he said, and through the education system they intend to erase inequalities and inequities.
SPORTS
Meanwhile, Minister of Education Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine during his address to the gathering lauded the students for their remarkable performances, noting that “we want to ensure that education is going to be rounded and although we are happy that students are excelling, it is not enough as we need to concentrate on other things.”
He noted sports is as highly important so schools have been urged to upgrade their sporting facilities. Moreover, Dr. Roopnaraine identified the need for a steelpan orchestra in every school in the country to encourage the formation and training of choirs throughout the school population.
“However, examinations are important and we want to ensure that wherever they [the students] go their results will carry them further and onwards…we must ensure that they are contented and happy,” Dr. Roopnaraine said.
ABOLISHING CORPORAL PUNISHMENT

Happiness must be all-round so the abolition of corporal punishment is a necessity, said the Education Minister. Therefore, instead of unlawfully beating children, he urged that schools improvise and improve on counselling facilities and mechanisms which would prove to have a more positive and longer-lasting effects.
Currently, he added, they are aiming to achieve national cohesion in schools because “schools must be places of healing…as such, we must fight every inch of the way to craft strategies in education and in all areas of national life.”
Awardees
And amidst resounding applause and cheers, the top performers received their awards. Victoria Najab of the Saraswati Vidya Niketan (SVN) school copped the award for being the most outstanding performer at CSEC, achieving 20 grade ones, while Cecil Cox was awarded for being the top student at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).
Also receiving awards for academic excellence were Shonta Noel, for being the most outstanding student in Business Studies at CAPE, while Shannon Woodroffe copped the best performer award for Sciences at CSEC, among others who achieved awards for excelling in their various disciplines.
The excitement did not stop there, as not just individuals but schools also were awarded. The most improved senior secondary school between 2014-2015 was the Berbice High School while sharing the award as the best Junior Secondary School were Fort Wellington and Beterverwagting Secondary.
Primary schools were also recognised as Sparta Primary School in Region 2 (Pomeroom/Supenaam) was awarded for being the most improved primary school.
Persons were also awarded from the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) and Carnegie School of Home Economics, as well as for performance at the Guyana Technical Education Examination.

Higher training for teachers promised