BANKS DIH Limited has increased its sponsorship to $2M to the Ministry of Education’s Unit of Allied Arts Department, catering for over 2,000 children during the 2018 Children’s Mashramani Costume Float Parade on Saturday. Speaking at a press conference held at the Ministry of Education on Tuesday, Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson said that the ministry is pleased to be associated with Banks DIH.

He said that the company has been a loyal financial supporter of several government initiatives over the years and continues to demonstrate its willingness to support. “We want to really say thanks for coming on board and for yet another significant venture,” Hutson said, adding:“Guyana is a diverse country in terms of races and this activity, every year, gives us a chance to recognise that there could be unity in diversity.

Mashramani is not just another activity that is relevant and important to our nation, but it gives our people an opportunity to work together regardless of which race they belong.”In response, Communications Manager of Banks DIH, Troy Peters, said that based on observations of previous years, the company was impressed to increase its sponsorship and has plans to go even higher in coming years.

He thanked Hutson for acknowledging the company’s support of the education sector and hailed Mashramani as a beneficial investment.“We’re extremely pleased to be partnering with the Ministry of Education through its Unit of Allied Arts in sponsoring the 2018 Children’s Mashramani Costume Parade,” he said, adding:“We look forward to seeing the Children Costume Parade growing from strength to strength. This is truly a worthwhile investment.” Saturday’s parade will receive sponsorship under the Malta Supreme and Rainforest Water, which Peters highlights as products which promote healthy living, can be enjoyed by children country-wide and is  ideal for the occasion.

Meanwhile, Acting Administrator of the Unit of Allied Arts, Lorraine Barker-King, thanked Banks DIH for their “generous” contribution, commenting that celebrating Mashramani has always presented Guyanese with the opportunity to momentarily look back at the past, while planning for the future.She said that the government attaches great importance to arts education and will continue to focus on strengthening the field, improving cultural literacy and educating the young generation to value the arts as a life-long pursuit.“We invite everyone to be a part of our activities, because we’re showcasing our children.

We know that our children are the future and we want to let parents know that the arts is not a waste of time,” Barker-King encouraged, adding:“Members of the public, do not encourage our children to wine. It is not a wining competition; they’re there to showcase the costumes.”On Saturday, 17 February, 2018, the float parade will begin at 10am sharp at the Parade Ground, move east into Middle Street, north into Camp Street, east into Lamaha Street, North into Albert Street and then to conclude at the National Park.

The nursery bands will, however, begin from Lamaha and Camp Streets.Over 54 schools from all 10 administrative regions and the Georgetown educational district will compete in the categories of nursery, primary, secondary, individual presentation, other children’s organisations and regional presentations. Apart from the general theme, ‘Let’s celebrate and cooperate Republic 48’, the parade will be guided by sub-themes such as: Nursery – ‘Portraying Celebration of our People; Primary – ‘Celebration of our Flora and Fauna’; Secondary – ‘Celebrating our Industries’ and other children’s organisations – ‘Celebrating our festivals.’

The Ministry of Education has, in addition, given support to St Sidwell’s Primary, South Ruimveldt Secondary and Kingston Secondary to be a part of the competitions.Similarly, the Ministry of Communities has assisted St. Winefride’s Primary and FE Pollard Primary; Creditinfo Guyana has assisted St. Andrew’s Primary, while the Ministry of Public Health’s Food Policy Division has sponsored the Rama Krishna Primary school.

The finals of the Children’s Mashramani competitions will commence on Thursday, 15 February, 2018, with the Dance and Masquerade competition, then on Friday, 16 February, 2018 with the Calypso and Dramatic Poetry competition, both at the National Cultural Centre. Apart from these, there were also skipping and gymnastics competitions and the regional winners will perform at a national competition to be held in May, during the country’s Independence celebrations.