Riverine schools now on equal footing
–as those in Linden

THE Region 10 Department of Education is on a mission to provide improved services in the Kwakwani-Upper Berbice River District (Sub District 2) for the benefit of both students and teachers.

With this in mind, several measures have been put in place in an effort to make sure the children of that district receive the same quality of education as the children in Linden.
This is in accordance with President David Granger’s motto of equality for all children in the education sector, whether they reside on the coast or the hinterland.

Regional Education Officer, Marcia Paddy Andrews, in an exclusive interview with this newspaper said that one of the main strides is having a resident District Education Officer (DEO) in the likes of Miss Keane Adams.

She is based in Kwakwani, but would frequent the Berbice River in an effort to improve supervision at those village schools, something that was lacking for years and was a major concern for the chairman and councillors of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC).

Adams will now be able to see that the children of these villages get the quality of education they deserve. Schools to have so benefitted are those in De Veldt, Sandhills, Maria Henrietta, Kimbia, Calcuni, St. Lust, Gaetroy, Ebini and Wairuni.

The Department would have also held a three-day workshop for headteachers in Sub District 2 last week.
“We did capacity building; we trained them in terms of completion of records, and we had some work done in terms of literacy and numeracy,” Paddy-Andrews told the Guyana Chronicle.

To alleviate the issue of teachers from Linden flunking the system so as not to be placed at these outlying areas upon completion of training at Cyril Potter College of Education, Paddy said the department is sourcing teachers from these areas so they can return to their own communities and serve.

“Last year we had three teachers going back; we tried it and it worked. And so we have seven now; and they are going back. So these teachers are teachers from the river, so there is no issue about accommodation for them wanting to be transferred out after serving the two years,” Paddy-Andrews related.

In this way, the teacher shortage in that district is being addressed effectively. This issue was a major concern for a recently held Commission of Inquiry m(CoI) into the state of education, which alleged the existence of “ghost teachers” purporting to be in the system and collecting money under false pretence in the Upper Berbice River.

Paddy had refuted these claims, stating that the teachers were registered at schools in the Berbice River but we based in Linden for several unfortunate reasons.
Meanwhile, the teachers’ hostel at Kwakwani is currently undergoing major repairs to facilitate the teachers based there but who are originally from Linden.

The RDC had expressed concern and urged that the repairs be done expeditiously since the teachers were dwelling in discomfort. Teachers and students continue to benefit from a David Granger 5 B’s boat that was donated in 2016 to take them to school in the Kimbia area.