THE Department of Innovation and Education Reform created under the Ministry of the Presidency will become fully operational in August, President David Granger disclosed last Thursday during an interview with the Guyana Chronicle at State House.
According to the head-of-state who will have oversight of the department, it will remain under the Ministry of the Presidency for the short term and then be merged with the Ministry of Education. The announcement of the new department was made in June when the President reshuffled his cabinet for the third time since taking office in May 2015.

In June, it was announced that Dr Rupert Roopnaraine, who held the post of Minister of Education, had been reassigned to the Ministry of Public Service, a new ministry.
Minister of State Joseph Harmon during the announcement said that the changes are geared at ensuring that better education and public services are provided to the Guyanese people in a smooth and efficient manner. Minister within the Ministry of Education, Nicolette Henry, now performs the function of Minister of Education.

Meanwhile, the new department responsible for innovation and reform of the education sector emerged out of a Cabinet decision last year to have a Plan for Emergency Education Reform (PEER) and to deal with the specific problem of poor performance in mathematics.
“I would say as a result of that intervention, the grades improved, but the grades are not good enough,” said President Granger who said that there is need for “a longer intervention.” “We have to look at the education system as [a] whole and not just specific interventions. As a whole, there are problems in the hinterland and there are problems with the public school system. So we feel that we maybe need to allow teachers to serve a little longer rather than retiring at 55,” he stated.

The President who before taking office had criticised the state of the country’s public education sector, believes that other improvements in the curriculum and methodology employed by educators need to be examined in great detail.
“…So the plan to establish a department should be taken within the framework of a wider education reform policy. It will start in August, in time to catch the next school academic year,” the President declared. The Ministry of the Presidency is actively receiving advice and is searching for persons to staff the department in order to bring about the change government wants to see occurring in the public schools, particularly at the primary level where a plethora of problems exist.

The head-of-state made it clear that the department has to focus on the entire sector and not just coastal aspects. The plan must cater for hinterland and coastal students he stressed.
“From what we have seen in the intervention of the PEER is that it can work and we need to broaden it. It is not right now within the Ministry of Education, because the Ministry of Education has day-to-day functions to perform. It will be a separate task force and later on we’d merge on to the ministry,” he assured. Additionally, President Granger assured that the Education Sector Reform Programme will not only focus on subjects being done at the National Grade Six, but on the performance of the sector holistically.

“That is why we don’t need people who are going to work at 8am and leaving at 4pm. We need a special task force that is going to go into the hinterland, implement the recommendations of the CoI and as a result of that we will see a real turn around. We have had interventions before but these were specific, but we are now looking at a holistic approach to education reform,” the President noted.

Notwithstanding the challenges, the head-of-state was quick to state that in all fairness to the officialdom, it is very difficult to implement a strategic plan on the basis of a day-to-day schedule and noted the fact that there is need for persons who are going to make the intervention on behalf of the administration. And I must say this, in fairness to the officialdom, politicians in the system it is very difficult to implement a strategic plan on the basis of a day-to-day schedule, we need people who are going to make that intervention on behalf of the government.
“Yes, the reform group, task force is going to be located outside of the Ministry of Education in the short term but when it gets into stride, it will be merged into the ministry,” he stated.

Asked whether he is satisfied with the pace of the education sector reform, the President responded: “I am satisfied that there was a positive or favourable outcome from the intervention which began in 2015, but I am not satisfied with 45 per cent, I am looking for 75 per cent passes. We have to get it; no parent, nobody would be satisfied with a child performing at 45 per cent; we can do better, I know we can do better,” he declared.
Meanwhile, earlier this month the National Assembly approved $16.6M in supplementary provision for the establishment of a Department of Innovation and Education Reform.

During debates on the subject, Minister of State Joseph Harmon disclosed that the Department of Innovation and Education Reform falls under the Ministry of the Presidency, and is aimed at improving education and learning outcomes through innovation.
He said the new department would focus on capitalising on new innovative trends and personalised learning that rely on the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), in addition to addressing the parallel challenge of promoting learning in an equitable way, as well as the potential for modern approaches to providing quality education. “This decision arose out of an analysis which was made from a Commission of Inquiry which was conducted into the education system, and proposals which were made to the Cabinet. And based on those proposals, this was one of the decisions made with respect to education,” Minister Harmon explained.

The department will be managed by a director and deputy director, who are yet to be hired, and will be paid approximately $700,000 and $500,000 respectively.
He went on to explain that the proposed salaries at reference include provisions for allowances, NIS, telephone charges, duty and travel; that the positions will be publicly advertised, but that public servants will be given first preference.

Additionally, three technical employees: early, primary and secondary childhood education specialists, a technical research assistant, and an administrative officer will be hired. It is proposed that these technical personnel be paid approximately $122,640 per month. The Department of Innovation and Education Reform will be furnished and equipped at a budgeted cost of $3M. The supplementary provision of $16.6M also caters for the purchase of field materials, office materials, print and non-print materials, in addition to local travel and subsistence, telephone charges, refreshment and meals among other things.