Budget 2017: Towards an educated and socially cohesive nation

An education nation, a nation in which each child has access to the highest quality education,

President Granger launched the One Laptop Per Teacher Initiative on
World Teacher’s Day. The President said that

is the vision of President David Granger. Coupled with this is the need to ensure that Guyana is one in which its citizens have an equal stake in the resources of the nation and the services offered by the state and live in national unity. These are two major tenets that significantly shape this administration’s mandate.

President David Granger has said that education, under the Constitution, is an entitlement for every Guyanese. Moreover, it has been the aim of this administration to ensure that that each child has access to this basic right. At the launch of Education Month in September, last year, the President said that Government is committed to ensuring that every child has

Minister of Education, Hon. Dr. Rupert
Roopnaraine said that the administration’s
main objective is to improve access to and
quality of Education

access to a quality education. “We want to provide not just more schools, but better schools, more teachers, but better teachers. We want to ensure that the school becomes an attractive and a pleasant place. We want children to want to go to school,” he said.

In keeping with this vision for an education nation, Budget 2017 reflected Government’s vested interest with an allocation of 17.2 percent (over $43 billion) to advancements in education.
Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, in his address, during the Budget Debates, said that the administration’s main objective is to improve access to and quality of Education across all regions of Guyana in an effort to graduate technology-driven professionals. In fact, the increased use of technology in the delivery of education and the Ministry has mandated that all secondary schools are adequately equipped for the teaching of Information and Communications Technology related subjects.

Additionally, the Ministry is working with the eGovernment Agency to improve connectivity in

Newly appointed Minister of Social
Cohesion, Hon. Dr. George Norton said
that he is committed to ensuring that there
is continuity and that the Ministry’s
mandate is further advanced

schools by equipping these institutions with Internet access and new or upgraded computer laboratories. This collaboration has seen 82 Secondary schools, eight Technical Vocational institutions and six Departments of Education being provided with Internet and network connectivity, while 33 additional secondary schools and seven the Cyril Potter College for Education (CPCE) sites are in the process of being connected.

On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, in October last year, President Granger launched the One Laptop Per Teacher Initiative as part of the ICT education thrust, given that teachers are those responsible for the passing on of knowledge. He said that the future of education requires teachers to have a fuller knowledge of Information Communications Technology (ICT). “The world has entered the ‘Information Age.’ Information, information technology and innovation are transforming almost every facet of human existence. ICT is revolutionising education. It is transforming the manner in which information is assembled, organised and disseminated. It is changing the way education is delivered in the classroom,” the President said.

Transforming the University of Guyana into an institution that has the capacity to churn out graduates, who are equipped to move Guyana faster along the ‘green’ development pathway is also a top priority for the Government. Minister Roopnaraine said that the University has seen the reformation of the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, which has become an official Faculty. As a Faculty, students and lecturers will now have more access to resources. Technical Facilitator to the Ministry of Education, Mr. Vincent Alexander said that this move was an important one by the Ministry because of the subject matter. “It has the largest in number of postgraduate programmes so it is producing a lot of people who will be specialists in the area, because this is a very critical area in keeping with the Government’s thrust,” he said.

Outside of these major areas, the Ministry is also involved in other aspects of ensuring a rounded education system. These include providing increased support to music and the introduction of counselling services for students. The Minister said that focus must be placed on ensuring children are equipped to deal with societal issues and have embarked on the setting up of counselling rooms in 10 secondary schools across the country.

An allocation of $3.74 million has also been made for the Programme for Emergency and Education Reform (PEER), which will continue to aim its focus on the improvement of Mathematics in Guyana. In 2015, it was reported that students’ performance rates in English and Mathematics were on the decline, with 62 percent of students, who sat Mathematics at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate Examinations failing to obtain a minimum of a Grade 3 pass in 2014.

Overall, the Minister said that the Ministry will continue in its commitment to improving management of the education sector. “Some of the key objectives of the upcoming year will be to improve teacher training, in keeping with our priority areas for education, increased instructional time for students, improve upon monitoring and evaluation, better monitoring supervision of capital projects and enhancing the internal efficiency of the Ministry,” he said.

Advancing the social cohesion agenda
Entering office on a wave of support for the Coalition’s vision for national unity, President Granger, true to his word, made social cohesion a central tenet of the nation’s development programme and established the Ministry of Social Cohesion.
Minister Winston Jordan, during his budget 2017 presentation said that government is committed to creating a society characterised by mutual respect, tolerance and acceptance. He said that a cohesive society is key to improving quality of life and enjoyment of the good life.

Over the past 18 months, the Ministry has had a packed agenda, where it has sought to raise awareness about the concept of social cohesion in the development framework and provided the opportunity for national contributions to the development of its work programme. With a mandate, which spans the improvement of cooperation across ethnic, religious political and geographic divides; the Ministry has focused the concept of equity.

The Ministry of Social Cohesion first fell under the responsibility of then Minister Amna Ally. At the beginning of this year, the Social Cohesion Ministry came under new direction, following adjustments made by President Granger. It is now headed by former Minister of Public Health Dr. George Norton, who, since his reassignment, has said that he looks forward to advancing the agenda of the Ministry in an aim to achieve government’s goal of national unity.

With an allocation of $90.1 million toward the Ministry of Social Cohesion for the year 2017, the Former Minister of Social Cohesion said that this commitment is evident in numerous programmes that the Ministry has been pursuing. Minister Norton is committed to ensuring that there is continuity and that the Ministry’s mandate is further advanced. “It gives me an opportunity of demonstrating my commitment to national unity and the nation can rest assured that I will make every effort- leave no stone unturned to get this nation on that keel of working toward national unity,” he said.

The new social cohesion Minister has much to build upon. Chief among these is the preparation of a 2017-2021 National Strategic Plan on Social Cohesion in Guyana. The plan incorporates the input from a wide cross section of stakeholders on matters affecting social cohesion in their communities.
Countrywide consultations were held and encouraged citizens to share their ideas and expectations of social cohesion in Guyana. Minister Ally, while still holding the portfolio, during the recent budget debates spoke on the importance of those consultations.

The consultations focused on five thematic areas: Economic equity and opportunities, Citizens’ safety and security, Social inclusion and tolerance, Inclusive and participatory governance and Harmonious ethnic and race relations.
Over 30 consultations were held, and after being concluded in November, the Ministry reported that the response received was overwhelming. “Persons were eager and willing to make valuable contributions to the proposed social cohesion strategic plan. Therefore, I must applaud their efforts for not only participating but doing so effectively and efficiently during the consultation process,” she said.

Another major project for the Ministry is the Five Bs Programme, which aims at providing Boats, Buses, Bicycles, Breakfast and Books to school children countrywide in order to support the improvement of access to education. Minister Ally, who was instrumental in the management of the programme, said that the initiative serves as one of the victories for the Social Cohesion Ministry. This programme, the Minister said is all about equity and ensuring that all children are able to benefit from the same opportunities for a good education.

“Access to education is fundamental to the development of our human capital. It is an essential criteria to effectively participate in any democratic society such as ours. Everyone has the right to education, regardless of where they live, their race, culture or geographic location,” she said.

Taking over from Minister Ally, Minister Norton acknowledged that social cohesion is important to Guyana’s development and is enshrined in the country’s motto ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’. “What I want to promote is dialogue. Communication and it does not have to be confrontational. I would try as much as possible to increase the communication between the different groups,” Minister Norton said. Much of his focus will also be placed on looking at remote communities and helping to include them on the ongoing dialogue of social cohesion.

But more importantly, the Minister has also adopted responsibility for the major projects of the Ministry, including the completion of the Strategic Plan. The plan is currently being finalised with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and is expected to be completed by month end. Once complete, the Plan will serve to guide much of the Ministry’s work plan going forward.
Minister Norton said the Ministry of Social Cohesion directly reflects this administration’s commitment to national unity. His work, will therefore seek to ensure that the Government’s goal is achieved.

The new Social Cohesion Minister will now also undertake other planned initiatives of the Ministry for the new year, including the continuation of the Regional Training in Diversity Education and inclusion, which began in October last year, the creation of a booklet on civic education which is to be distributed among children in all primary schools countrywide, the continuation of Face the Community initiatives and the hosting of Social Cohesion day, culture day and a week of activities designed to encourage a stand against racism, prejudice and intolerance for diversities.

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