THE Ministry of Education (MoE) has printed and distributed 8,400 workbooks to hinterland pupils in Grades Two, Four and Six, in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine, even as assessments surveys are ongoing for the crafting of a widespread practical education plan going forward.

The Ministry is currently assessing for the implementation of similar initiatives to nursery school and special needs students across the country.

The workbooks were distributed shortly after the MoE would have effected closure of schools. Schools have been closed since March 16, after Guyana registered the first case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) on March 11.

The workbooks distributed to the hinterland pupils cover the four core areas of Mathematics, English Language, Science and Social Studies.

“They were sent to the regions and distributed through the Department of Education. In some cases, teachers assisted in the process,” explained MoE Senior Education Officer, Marcia Paddy-Andrews.

She further added, “Parents and teachers and even pupils were happy to receive those materials. On a normal day they purchase those materials and they are very costly. They were happy to have the children occupied during that period.”

With schools closed, the MoE is currently assessing means to overcome the challenge of meeting the education needs of the learner population during this time. Guyana currently has over 170, 000 learners in the public school system.

Hinterland learners are considered among the most disadvantaged groups in education, due to areas being far flung. Over the past few years, massive emphasis has been placed on bridging the gap between the quality of education offered in hinterland regions and what is offered on the coast.

“The Department of Education in those Regions are assisting and they are working the sheets systematically and they provide answers based on work that was done. What we find when we were on the ground were that teachers were communicating with parents and addressing difficulties that the learners were having while they were working with the students,” Paddy-Andrews explained.

She noted that following assessments after the distribution, a need for answer sheets to accompany the workbooks was observed, so the Ministry is in the process of making that supplemental provision.

“Some of the parents are finding it difficult to assist the children, so what we find is that we would have had to provide answer sheets for the workbooks, so we are in the process of preparing that,” Paddy-Andrews noted.

Assistant Chief Education Officer (Nursery), Samantha Williams, noted that, though the initiative currently only covers a limited number of Grades, there are plans to have the initiative expanded to cover the other three Grades at the primary school level.

“The MoE will be looking to scale up that support so that it covers all Grades at the primary level and even provide support for our nursery children and special education needs children, providing them with assessment packages and so on,” Williams noted.

In a statement issued earlier this week, the MOE noted that learning materials for special needs learners at the nursery and primary school levels have been acquired and are being distributed.