— to bring students back into the classroom 

THE Ministry of Education has launched ‘Operation Recovery’ within the 11 Education Districts to find primary school students who have been continuously absent from school since school re-started and those who have missed the recent National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) mock examination.

This move will see education officers from the Central Ministry and within the Education Districts, along with regional officials and community activists fanning out into communities to locate these pupils. The exercise aims to ascertain the location of the students and the reasons behind their absenteeism, so that a determination can be made about how the ministry can assist these students with returning to school.

The scientific data gathered from countries around the world in numerous studies by various organisations continue to show that the long school closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to an increased rate of school dropouts and tremendous learning loss, unless countries take urgent, practical measures to prevent same. This will not only affect the academic attainment of young people, but ultimately their economic and social development as they become adults.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that this generation of children and youth cannot afford any more disruptions to their education and predict that unless practical measures are taken urgently, this generation could lose more than 17 trillion dollars in earnings in their lifetimes, have their academic growth stunted and their mental health severely affected.

The Ministry of Education said it remains committed to keeping school doors open and having as many of pupils back in school and where students failed to come to school, to determine what needs they may have and to attempt to meet those needs.

The ministry in a release said it believes firmly that urgent, practical, sustained measures such as teaching and learning from a consolidated curriculum; the provision of textbooks; re-training of teachers; using technology in the classroom and Operation Recovery will prevent the predicted loss to students and the country.

The ministry also warns that any individual or organisation that promotes the closure of schools or discourages parents from sending their children to school is doing harm to Guyana’s children and the country as a whole and encouraged all stakeholders to be responsible, so that it can reach every pupil and give them the education they rightfully deserve.