THREE students were the first recipients of scholarships being offered by Dr. Surendra Persaud and family in honour of their parents who were both educators at the No. 68 Primary School. The programme ‘Annand and Sabitri’ Foundation, was launched on Monday at the Number 68 primary in the presence of a large gathering of parents, teachers, residents, students and Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.

The recipients are eight-year-old Devina Chunnu, Delana Ali and Rachael Seegobin. They were top performers of the No.68 Primary at the National Grade Two Assessment. The scholarships are open to students at the school who earn 75 % and over at the Grade Two National Examinations and will conclude when the recipients sit the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).
In explaining the rationale, Dr. Persaud who grew up at No. 68 Village, said he wants to target the students at an early age so they could excel from that level upwards.
“This scholarship programme is simple – we discussed with the minister that it would have started with 85%, but the sad reality [is] we would only be looking at one student today. The National Grade 2 assessment will be 75%, but as they move upward the percentage will have to rise. We will provide all the textbooks that are appropriate for that level, stationery, school supplies, everything that deals with the children’s education. We will use the National Grade Four and Six and follow them to CXC. The programme will see students and parents once a month to assist and assess and we will work along with the Ministry of Education.”
Dr Persaud explained that his family, who are originally from the No. 68 village area, had long recognised the importance of a solid education and saw the need for their children to become more than farmers or sugars workers. Both of his parents were educators and tutored at the No.68 Primary School and were a driving force behind the scholarships that seek to nurture high achievers from an early age.
Dr Persaud explained that he would not have become a doctor had it not been for his grandparents, who were farmers, but saw the need for education in order to get out of poverty and pushed their children to do better.
“I was born at this same village, my maternal grandparents who were farmers, what they said to us from the inception is that they never expected us to become farmers or to work in the sugar industry and they recognised the only solution was through education; and I don’t mean ordinary education, you need to excel …and all their children became educated and they also shared the same vision. Today with the launch of this scholarship in honour of our parents, we are making a commitment to top performers and their parents as our grandparents and parents made to us.”
Dr. Roopnaraine in delivering the feature address thanked the Persaud family for their initiative and interest in education and noted that their line of thinking is exactly what the education ministry seeks to achieve.
“I believe everything we try to do at the ministry in terms of planning your education all the way up to university. I believe that the most important thing that we have to do is ensure that the children in the primary schools receive a solid foundation. What is happening in the primary school solely determines what happens to children all the way through their lives and I cannot stress enough that educating a child in the primary school level is paramount to success.”
The Education Minister also stressed the need for a balanced education to have well-rounded individuals and not to overtask students with only schoolwork.
In that light, he has tasked his ministry with putting extra-curricular activities such as music back into the school curriculum.
“I have been impressed at the many passes children made at their examinations, but I have to confess that when I see children passing 21 subjects I have to ask myself, what kind of childhood is this child having? I don’t want children to spend all of their waiting hours cramming facts into their heads and pass examinations – that’s not what I want them to do. I am very happy to see our little dancers… I want to see schools develop school choirs, I want to see small steelbands in schools, but what I also know is that one of [the] most important musical instruments is the voice and we have to train the voices in school.”

SCHOOL CHOIR COMPETITION
In this regard, the Education Minister is planning to host a choir competition in schools in observance of Guyana’s 50th Independence Anniversary celebrations. “My plan at the 50th anniversary celebration is to have a school choir competition and have the best school perform at the 50th celebration, so I urge you to do what you can to ensure that we have music teachers in the schools and ensure we spend our time inculcating the love for music.”
FATHERS
Dr. Roopnaraine also touched on the importance of parents’ roles in a child’s education and he encouraged fathers to play an important role in the lives of their children, as well as the need for more patriotic education about the country.
Regional Education Officer Valika Jaikishun said the initiative is timely and a step in the right direction towards promoting education.
Meanwhile, speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, parents of the recipients expressed gratitude to the Persaud family and the Ministry of Education for providing the scholarships to the students and promised to continue helping and encouraging their children to excel.