GUYANA is on a path to achieving first class educational standards and the 2018 National Budget will aid the process, Minister of Education Nicolette Henry told the National Assembly on Thursday, before ending her presentation on a rather emotional note.

Minutes before ending her presentation, Minister Henry broke down in tears as she expressed gratitude to the thousands of men and women who are immensely contributing towards the improvement of our education system. Even as she was being consoled by Minister within the Ministry of Natural Resources, Simona Broomes, the Education Minister said: “Indeed, we have done so much in education with the sole purpose of making a difference in the lives of others in this country.

“I look forward to an even more rewarding year in 2018, as I have every confidence that we will persevere and deliver as we continue the journey of laying a solid foundation for the good life of all our students who are the future of this country.”

But for the Opposition–People Progressive Party (PPP), Henry’s tears were part of a “grand theatrical performance.” PPP Member of Parliament Clement Rohee, who spoke seconds after the Education Minister, said the Bible did spoke of the “weeping and gnashing of teeth” in the last day. According to him, Henry’s tears are just the beginning of what is to come.

“What we have witnessed…in terms of the weeping and the gnashing of teeth is obviously a manifestation of what is to come by 2020. There will be more weeping and gnashing of teeth,” said Rohee.

Guyana’s journey to first class education
Nonetheless, amid periodic heckling from the opposition benches, the Education Minister said the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) Government continues to invest heavily in the Education Sector as it seeks to achieve “first class education” in Guyana.

“In 2017 we invested significant sums at the nursery, primary and secondary levels. Apart from routine activities, some of the initiatives we rolled out included emergency intervention for Mathematics at the Primary Level with a strong focus on content and methodology, expansion of the music programme, where we trained in excess of three hundred teachers in the areas of Dance, Drama, Music, Visual Arts and Physical Education with a view to creating more rounded students,” she told her colleagues on both sides of the House.

The intervention, the Education Minister boasted, resulted in increased student performance in test scores at national and regional examinations. She assured that Government in 2018 will keep up the momentum. “So monies have been allocated in the 2018 budget for curriculum review, the Interactive Radio Instruction Programme review, leadership training for senior teachers, development of a handbook for teaching method / strategies for primary teachers, and the development of standards for Primary Mathematics from Grades 1-6,” Minister Henry told the National Assembly.

It was pointed out too that Government took a decision this year to increase the number of schools approved for community-based school feeding programme in the hinterland. The number was increased from 110 to 202.
“While this may not seem like much, depending on where you sit in this house, I can tell you, to the ordinary people, especially the additional 30,000 students who are benefitting for the first time from school feeding, this is a big deal,” Minister Henry said with a sense of accomplishment.

The move has created job opportunities for residents, in particular women in the various communities. A similar breakfast programme, she boasted, was implemented on the coastland and is positively affecting the lives of students.
Based on the positive impact it is having on children across the country, the School Feeding Programme will be scaled up this initiative, the Education Minister told the House.

According to the United Nations, there is evidence to show that school feeding programmes enhance enrollment in school and better educational outcomes.

Alluding to another of the Ministry’s achievement, Minister Henry reminded her colleagues that it was this year that the first smart classroom launched. But that initiative was just a tip of the iceberg. “In 2017 the Ministry of education launched its first smart classroom, hosted a series of stakeholders’ engagements and awarded millions of dollars in presidential grants to several secondary schools as part of the National Endowment for Science and Technology, called NEST,” she pointed out.

Closing the gaps and reducing the disparities in education also formed part of the Ministry’s focus for 2017. As such, several buses, boats and bicycles were commissioned and handed over to most disadvantaged communities like the Pomeroon, Baracara, Rivers view, Bartica and Moraikobai. “Mr. Speaker, the President’s 5 B’s initiative is a model for transforming the education landscape.

From May 2015 to date, we have provided 26 Buses, nine boats and thousands of bicycles which are transporting our children across this country,” Minister Henry reported. In 2018, for the first time in over a decade, the Education Ministry will reintroduce training for teachers in Region 8. A decision has been taken to increase teachers Remote Area Incentive by 80 per cent.

Additionally, in 2018, the newly-constructed Special Education diagnosis and assimilation centre at Turkeyen will be outfitted with appropriate equipment and furnishings, the Education Minister told the House. Also, the budget includes allocations for the construction of TVET Hubs at Bina Hill, Mahdia, Lethem and Mabaruma to bridge the gap between hinterland and coastland, while enhancing hinterland access to post-secondary education opportunities.