— records 98 percent pass rate at NGSA

DESPITE their domestic, social and educational circumstances, the pupils of Kartabo Primary School shone at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) with 11-year-old Ryan Williams emerging at the top student.

Williams, an aspiring doctor, secured 478 marks, and though he did not place in the country’s top one per cent or Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) Top 10, it is the first time in more than six years that Kartabo Primary School has achieved such high marks with a 98 per cent pass rate.

Located seven miles from Bartica in the Cuyuni-Mazaruni District, Kartabo Primary School with a student population of approximately 77 students and six teachers, three of which are ‘acting teachers’, prepared 12 pupils for the 2017 NGSA examination.

Of the 12 students, seven students secured marks to attend the region’s top Secondary School – Three Miles Secondary while four others will be attending the Bartica Secondary School come September 2017.

One student did not acquire enough marks to attend a secondary school and would be returning to the multi-grade school to re-sit the examination come 2018.

In an interview with Guyana Chronicle on Sunday, headteacher of the Kartabo Primary School Lorna Shanks said this year’s high pass rate was as a result of several factors, including the “Emergency Maths Intervention Programme” which was implemented by the Education Ministry late last year.

“The empowerment from that training in three months, the children were able to do their best,” the headteacher posited.

The Emergency Maths Intervention Programme was rolled out in December 2017 with focus on the grade six students.

The programme included the training of teachers in content and methodology, facilitating fortnightly cluster meetings in all regions, recruitment of mathematics coordinators and monitors, and training of officers and school administrators to supervise the teaching of mathematics.

It also included the preparation and administration of a diagnostic assessment of pupils in the hinterland before training, enhancement of public relations and parental involvement in the education of children and the acquisition of support materials for students.

Shanks said she and a retired VSO, Ian Scott participated in those training and worked with students tirelessly not only in mathematics but also in the three other core subject areas.

PARENTAL SUPPORT
She noted too that many of the children’s parents were very supportive during this period despite being faced with a number of issues.

The Kartabo Primary School is currently being housed in a new building and caters for children at the nursery and primary levels.

With more human and physical resources, the headteacher believes that in the not so distant future, the school will make it into the top one per cent of the country.

“I am optimistic that in the future we will be able to be in that one per cent, it may not be next year but maybe within the next four or five years,” she told Guyana Chronicle.

Already, Shanks and Scott have been working with the eight children who are enlisted to write the 2018 NGSA Examination. Turning her attention for the need for more trained teachers, Shanks pointed out that the three acting teachers are currently taking the necessary steps to become qualified.

“They are working to upgrade their status. They wrote CXC this year including maths and it is my hope that by September 2018, they will be able to attend CPCE [Cyril Potter College of Education],” the headteacher said.
Last week, during an outreach to a number of riverain communities in Region Seven including Kartabo Village, Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources Simona Broomes met with the residents and teachers of Kartabo.

In a brief interview with Guyana Chronicle on Saturday, Minister Broomes told Guyana Chronicle that she is pleased to know that measures implemented by the Government such as the Emergency Maths Intervention Programme are bearing fruit. She noted that little Williams ought to be applauded for his outstanding performance, along with his colleagues.

The minister had also visited the village of Batavia where there are said to be an issue of school drop outs. Based on issues raised, Minister Broomes has pledged to make representation on behalf of the concerned residents.