STUDENTS are the most valuable resources of the country.
The Ministry of Education continues to encourage students and teachers to develop literacy and technology skills for the development of Guyana.

On Friday, an education symposium was held at Queen’s College. It was another activity on the 2019 Education Month calendar. Several secondary schools and the Cyril Potter College of Education were represented.

In attendance were Dr Marcel Hutson, Chief Education Officer; Ms Samantha Williams, Assistant Chief Education Officer and Head of the Literacy Department; Miss Viola Rowe, Principal of Cyril Potter College of Education; and Mr Floyd Scott, Director of the Council for Technical Vocational Education and Training (CTVET).

Ms. Williams, one of the speakers at the symposium, quoted the words of Kofi Anan ‘Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.’

She added that “In the past everyone associated literacy with just being able to read and write. Literate persons must be able to use the skills of thinking, listening, speaking, reading and writing in ways that can contribute to socio economic development and developing the capacity for social awareness and critical reflection as a basis for personal and social change. In this light, therefore, literacy is the catalyst for learning and should not be treated as an isolated construct but as an integrated idea, upon which the

foundation and sustenance of knowledge acquisition is built, thereby making literacy a key pillar, upon which all citizens must be educated. In other words, literacy is the main thing.”
In simpler terms, she noted that literacy was important for the development of one’s self, family, community and country. It is the fundamental skill that, once acquired, can lead to a better quality of life.

Miss Viola Rowe, the Principal of CPCE, who also spoke at the symposium emphasised the importance of students and teachers in the community.

“Students are the most valuable resources we have in our country, along with our teachers. Schools exist because of our students. Teachers go to work every day because they know that students need them. That is why the Cyril Potter College of Education is looking to provide schools 100 per cent trained teachers by the year 2030,” she explained.

Floyd Scott the director of CTVET, who also spoke at the symposium, noted that technology plays a vital role in educating the youths of Guyana.

He also noted that, the times have changed from Stone Age to now and it is important and relevant that the youths are equipped and educated to further develop themselves and the economy of the country.