…as MoE continues to safeguard against COVID-19
-new date to be announced at a later time

AS government continues to guard against the spread of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), the Ministry of Education (MoE) has announced that the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) will be rescheduled to a new date, which will be announced at a later time.

According to a release from the ministry, careful thought has been given to the scheduled dates for the administration of the NGSA 2020 which was previously set for April 8 and 9, 2020. Those dates are no longer valid, the ministry said and it noted that adequate notice will be given with regard to the new dates. All schools have been closed for two weeks beginning, March 16, 2020.

During this period, the ministry said it will continue to assess the situation and engage in the sanitisation of all schools and MoE buildings to ensure that children, teachers and staff can return to a safe and healthy learning and working environment. As it regards to the rescheduling of NGSA 2020, the ministry encouraged parents to continue working with their children in preparation for this assessment.

Persons can visit the MoE’s website on https://bit.ly/39Y698S to access NGSA Practice Test Papers in the four core areas. Due to increased traffic to the website, access to the page may be intermittently obstructed, the ministry said, adding that access is case-sensitive. Persons can also tune into the Guyana Learning Channel (Channel 42/Cable 29) to access the following programmes: Nursery Programme – 06:00hrs – 09:00hrs; Primary Programmes – 09:00hrs – 12:00hrs; Documentaries – 12:00hrs – 13:00hrs; and Secondary Programmes – 13:00hrs – 15:00hrs.

They can also continue to listen to the radio broadcasts of the Interactive Radio Instruction for Grades 1 – 3 daily. The timings are: Grade 1- 09:30h – 10:00h; Grade 2-10:30h – 11:00h; and Grade 3- 13:00h – 13:30h. These are also aired on the following radio stations: Radio Mahdia, Bartica, Essequibo, Mabaruma, Lethem and Radio Paimowak. Parents and children can also continue to listen to broadcasts to schools for Grade 3-6 at 13:00hrs daily on NCN Radio.

In order to support the continuing education of students while schools are closed due to the threat of COVID-19, local technology provider, BrainStreet, is offering free online tutoring and practice questions in Mathematics and English Language via its BrainCentral (www.braincentral.online) online learning platform. The focus will be on Grades 4, 5 and 6 during the next two weeks. Sessions for other grades, however, will also be available. All interested persons can register using the link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfHF0FudxvJK2Ur7Z5w.
BrainCentral is managed and operated by the BrainStreet Group. A technology services provider based in Georgetown, Guyana. The firm has been existence since 1994 and has been offering online learning services since 2005. The University of West Indies (Cave Hill Campus) and University of Guyana (IDCE) have both used BrainStreet’s services over the years. BrainCentral has over 100,000 questions available ranging from Grade 4 to CAPE. These questions are used for quizzes for participants. For any further questions persons can call (592) 225-5353.

UG closed
Meanwhile, the Transitional Management Committee (TMC) of University of Guyana (UG) has advised that staff and students of both campuses (Turkeyen and Tain) and the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE) will be absent from campus and working online for the next two weeks, until March 30, 2020.

According to UG, the extension is now applicable to all staff and students of UG, with the exception of those essential services staff in the Registry, Bursary, Maintenance, Security and Personnel Divisions who will be deployed on service as required. This is a precautionary measure in response to NCV-19. The university said it relies on scientific evidence emerging and based on modeling of the infection in large countries already affected, thus, the most effective means of managing COVID-19 is through mass containment procedures in the period of highest vulnerability, which is within 14 days of exposure.