NURSERY education in Guyana is fully mainstreamed in the country’s public education system. The broad objective of nursery education is to assist children to learn through playing with their peers and to provide a warm and safe environment where they feel comfortable to explore. It is through exploration that a child will be able to learn. Socialisation skills and the development of sensor-motor skills are also important skills learnt at that level, in addition to the other domains of knowledge.

Guyana is ahead of most countries in the region, and for that matter the entire Commonwealth, in terms of nursery enrollment rates. According to Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, Guyana currently has an enrollment rate of 85 per cent and it is the expectation of her ministry to take that to 100 per cent.

The importance of nursery education cannot be overemphasised. It encourages critical thinking, positive dispositions to learning and it prepares children for the outside world and their journey into adulthood.

Countries all around the world are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of early childhood education. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has as one of its objectives “to contribute to the building of peace, the eradication of poverty, sustainable development and inter-cultural dialogue through education.” According to UNESCO, early childhood education is much more than preparing children for primary school. It aims at the holistic development of a child’s social, emotional, cognitive and physical needs in order to build a solid and broad foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing.

Nursery education is not compulsory in Guyana. The introduction of a national nursery education commenced in 1976 and was delivered in those early days in specially designed nursery sections in primary schools. Prior to that, there were several ‘bottom house’ nursery schools which catered for those who could afford to pay. The teachers, for the most part, were untrained and lacked basic pedagogical skills to deliver such training effectively.

Sadly, whatever gains were made in terms of free education from nursery to university levels were sooner negated after the then PNC regime failed to provide the necessary funding to provide an acceptable quality of education to the children and young people of Guyana. The education sector, at all levels, suffered tremendously, giving rise to what some described as ‘fee education’. Those who could have afforded the fees sent their children to private lessons to supplement that provided by the   public school system. The situation had reached ridiculous proportions with parents having to pay for private lessons for their children from as early as primary schooling!

It took the return of the PPP/C Government on October 5, 1992 before the education sector began to experience significant improvements in the quality of education delivery at all levels, including nursery education. Scores of discrete child-friendly nursery schools were established all over the country. A massive programme of teacher training took place, which, in addition to improved and a better supply of learning/teaching resources in the school system, resulted in higher levels of student attainment.

The PPP/C administration must be commended for initiating and implementing several reforms to the education sector, including the end of dual education in 1961, the construction of a network of new schools throughout the country and, by no means least, the construction of the University of Guyana, which was once dubbed by the PNC ‘Jagan Night School’. Today, the university remains a flagship education institution, not only in Guyana but in the entire region.

As we celebrate 45 years of nursery education in Guyana, we must commend all those who were, and are currently responsible, for nurturing our children and laying that foundation for them to become rounded individuals. Children are the future leaders of our society and it is important that we seek to create that environment that will allow for the full development of their potential. The PPP/C administration is doing a commendable job in terms of nursery education and, for that matter, education on the whole. In the words of President, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, “education remains a key element to the government’s plan to ensure a better future for our children. We are not re-imagining a better future for our children. We are making it happen”.