CHIEF Education Officer (CEO), Marcel Hutson, on behalf of the Ministry of Education has expressed his gratitude to the country’s teachers for their dedication in shaping and moulding the minds of the future leaders, in observance of World Teacher’s Day being observed under the theme, “Teaching in Freedom, Empowering Teachers”.

“As the Chief Education Officer, I recognise that teachers are the backbone of our society (Guyana) because they majorly contribute in shaping the future of our nation. A teacher’s job is full of responsibility and challenges because not every student is the same, and thus the teacher has to be dynamic and adopt different teaching patterns for different students,” the CEO explained.

He noted that teaching is a social practice, therefore teachers must be able to shoulder the responsibility of their career and understand the sensitivity of the situation, where students from different backgrounds and make-up are involved.

The Ministry of Education has initiated and implemented many programmes to improve the quality of education which would not be possible without the co-operation of teachers; hence the significant improvement shown in the results of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) and Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.

Hutson also urged teachers to continue to educate young people with diligence and become a long-lasting influence in the lives of their students. He then quoted Chinese philosopher Confucius, who said, “Even if someone is your teacher for only a day, you should regard him as your father for the rest of your life”.

This year’s theme echoes the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) number four which speaks to quality education; one of the primary agenda goals that government has highlighted in ensuring that all children across Guyana have access to education.(DPI)