The White Water Primary School in the North West District will be gazetted soon.

This is according to  Chief Education Officer , Marcel Hutson  who along with officials of the Ministry of Education are on an outreach in Region One (Barima/Waini).

According to the Department of Public Information (DPI) , through a collaboration between the Education Ministry and the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of the region, a team of officials on Monday, led by  Hutson engaged members of the border  community  with a view of hearing and addressing their concerns.

The meeting which was held at the Whitewater Community Centre yielded much information , the release noted . It said that the discussions will inform decisions at the ministry and at the regional levels towards addressing the  concerns of residents.

During the interface, Hutson encouraged a more collaborative approach to addressing matters towards an improvement of education delivery in the community.

“There is the need for a more hands-on approach to the supervision and management of the Whitewater Primary School,” Hutson opined.

A directive was given that a technical expert should as a priority visit the Whitewater School to speedily correct the supply woes to address the electrical issues and by extension enable the students to benefit from the computers that are available.

“Very soon efforts will be afoot to have the annex gazetted and be made into an official school with a headteacher,” Hutson told the gathering.

The school , which has a population of 171 pupils , has been an annex of the Wauna Primary School since it was established 11 years ago and residents , including village captain , Cleveland De Souza, have been calling on the ministry to ensure the school operates independently.

Meanwhile , according to the release, on Monday , Assistant Chief Education Officer (Technical) ,Patrick Onwuzirike informed the gathering that plans are in train to introduce the Secondary Competency Certificate Programmes (SCCP) at the Wauna Primary top School.

This is part of efforts to have the children leave the school with a technical certificate that affords them the opportunity for meaningful employment in Guyana or anywhere in the Caribbean and to also pursue further education.

“We want to encourage parents to consider the fact that while you might not have major qualifications your community must make sure that as parents you should demand a certain level of excellence from the school system and do your part as a key stakeholder,” CEO Hutson admonished.

In addition , he said, “We all have the same brain and we all need to empower each other to build the community and safeguard the resources and facilities. The idea of us coming here was to not just see problems but to fashion workable solutions. The engagement was also to assure residents that education could be delivered in the best possible way.”

Residents also spoke at the event.“I must applaud the government for taking the bold step to have an entire team here…it is historical. This move shows that the Government of Guyana (GoG) has the best interest of all the peoples of Guyana including us in the Hinterland at heart…to me this is proof that Guyana is moving forward,”  Errol Lucian, one participant of the Town Hall meeting held in the Whitewater Multi-Purpose Hall stated.

Hutson said the Regional Education Officer , Nigel Richards has been mandated to prepare a list of the needed textbooks so that these shortages can be addressed in two weeks’ time.

CEO Hutson promised that as long as they are available the necessary textbooks will soon be delivered to the community for the school use. His comment received loud applause from the audience.

Plans are afoot for the Parent Teachers Association (PTA) Coordinator Nadia Hollingsworth and other education officials to conduct Town hall meetings to engage with parents.

The DPI said  a feedback meeting was also held with teachers of the Whitewater Primary School and a request from a parent was for the establishment of a community library for which Ms Jennifer Cumberbatch the Director of NCERD promised some assistance through a donation of books by Month end.

The high-level team of MoE officials currently visiting the Hinterland area includes Assistant Chief Education Officers,Owen Pollard, Carol Benn and  Onwuzirike from the primary, secondary and technical divisions of the MoE.

Also, on the team is Senior Welfare Officer , Vickram Mohabir. There is also a representative from the Monitoring, Evaluation Technical Support Unit ,Nashrullah Khan, Civil Engineer , Shaunette Braithwaite of the MOE Buildings Unit and two Technical Facilitators of the CEO,Franseca Vieira and Simone Wills.(DPI)