We will fix education
Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine
Minister of Education, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine

…new medical school for UG, expanded school feeding programme

GOVERNMENT will be constructing a new school of medicine at the University of Guyana as well as 300-seat lecture theatre, Education Minister, Dr Rupert Roopnaraine told the National

PPP MP Dr. Frank Anthony
PPP MP Dr. Frank Anthony

Assembly on Tuesday.

He was at the time making his contributions to the 2017 budget debate, which opened on Monday. “At the University of Guyana, we are currently finalising the construction of a new 300-seat lecture theatre, as well as a new student services building. In 2017, we will be commencing the construction of a new school of medicine on campus, as well as – under the Yesu Persaud endowment – a facility for clinical services attached to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation,” Roopnaraine told the House as he unveiled his ministry’s plans for next year.

The minister acknowledged that the education system is in crisis but the 19-month-old A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government will fix it. He told the House that though the Commission of Inquiry into the Education Sector is wrapping up its investigations, Government, without any prejudice to the recommendations of that report, will take key steps to improve service delivery in the sector.

As such, some $337.4M has been set aside for the Programme for Emergency Education Reform (PEER) initiative, which is being executed following the initiation of several measures in 2015, with the central component of it being the first significant and most sweeping curriculum reform in almost two decades.

“The PEER initiative will focus heavily on improving math scores through comprehensive diagnosis of current constraints, methodology review, and the recruitment of a cadre of specialists for targeted interventions,” the Education Minister explained. Additionally, the subject minister told the house that the invaluable progress made by the National Center for Education Resource Development (NCERD) in 2016 will continue in 2017 in the core areas of Curriculum Development, Special Needs Education Training and Awareness, Literacy and Information Communication Technology (ICT) integration.

“In November of this year, a total of 50 participants, including head teachers and DEOs from selected regions, were trained in an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) initial workshop, one designed to generate awareness and support for the implementation of a pilot for ESD, linking the UNESCO micro-science experiments programme, Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development and the UNESCO Sandwatch coastal erosion awareness programme,” Minister Roopnaraine pointed out.
He said in 2017, Guyanese will not only benefit from the approval of the ESD policy and the implementation of a supporting action plan but would also witness closer collaboration between the Science Unit and the Cyril Potter College for Education (CPCE), in addition to a stronger public awareness education programme on the importance of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) education.

Even as the Government pushes ahead with a strong STEM programme, it has vouched never to lose sight of the important role that arts education is playing in creating well-rounded, civic-minded students. He said while 2016 has resulted in an increase in the number of students enrolling in the expressive arts and sports education, visual arts saw a worrying trend of decreased enrollments and as such, in 2017, the Education Ministry will target that decline with the training of 132 teachers in multiple visual arts disciplines.

Training for teachers in music, drama and dance will also be enhanced in 2017, while the Ministry will take active steps to equip three more schools with steel bands, bringing the total to 24. Zooming in on territory education, the Education Minister informed the House that 2017 will also see greater collaboration among the University of Guyana (UG) School of Education and Humanities, NCERD and CPCE.

“These initiatives will form the basis of a medium term Sector Review Plan 2018-2020, which in turn will simply be another phase in what has to be a process that fundamentally reforms and restructures the pedagogy at the heart of our education system in order to provide long-term, centralized integration within the national sustainable development agenda,” he explained to the House.

In the area of service delivery, Minister Roopnaraine assured that his Ministry will continue to look for ways that will enhance service delivery of existing programmes.

“During 2017, we will continue the coordinating, monitoring and evaluating activities of the 2014-2018 Strategic Education Plan with particular focus on the implementation of regional plans, enhancing our programme to ensure that schools are certifiable as child-friendly spaces, integrating climate change education more meaningfully into the curriculum, and strengthening the working relationship between our international partners, UNICEF and UNESCO in particular,” he further explained.

Additionally, the Ministry expects that in 2017 there will be greater autonomy of the National Accreditation Council and increased capacity for international accreditation and equivalency under the council. As in the case of other programmes within the Education Ministry, student welfare will continue to remain high on the agenda for this Administration, the subject minister emphasized, noting that in 2017 some $1.9B will be pumped into the school feeding programme with another $578M set aside for the provision of much needed text books.

Investment in education
Though he did not agree with the new measures of taxation that will come into effect in 2017, People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Member of Parliament and former Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony told the House that he is pleased to see that the APNU+AFC Government is continuing the tradition of investing in education.

“I am extremely happy to hear that the National Accreditation Council will be working assiduously over the next year to perhaps accredit the institution in our country,” he added.
Admitting that Math and English have long been a serious problem, the former Minister said he would have wished to hear about the concrete steps that will be taken to remedy the situation. Without concrete solutions, he argued that the problems facing students in these two key subject areas will not be solved. While acknowledging that Minister Roopnaraine has a passion for the Arts, Dr. Anthony said he was a bit taken back that the minister did not extensively address the area.

Additionally, the PPP MP said given a commitment made previously, he would have thought that there would have been provisions in the 2017 budget for the erection of the 1838 Monument Palmyra. “I would have thought that this Monument would have been soon unveiled. More so Mr. Speaker, that next year we will commemorate 100 years since Indentureship was abolished and we would have thought that the Government would have at least wanted to unveil this monument on this occasion,” Dr. Anthony said. Nevertheless, while applauding some of the programmes and initiatives outlined by the Education Minister, Dr. Anthony spent the majority of his time condemning the proposed tax measures outlined by the Finance Minister Winston Jordan.

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