IN addition to meeting the needs of Guyanese and improving their quality of life, President Dr Irfaan Ali and his administration are also ensuring that officials act in the best interest of the people.

In an interview with the Sunday Chronicle, Ayecia Amsterdam (Grade Two teacher) and Shonell McKenzie (Grade Six teacher) of the Baracara Primary School in the Canje River, Region Six, expressed their gratitude to President Ali for instructing the lecturers of the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) to conduct their final assessment so that they would be able to graduate later this month.

“We are teachers from Baracara Primary School, and thankfully for our President and his team, we will be able to graduate on the 29th of this month (November). We were successful at our exams, but a couple of weeks ago, some lecturers from CPCE were here to visit us for our final assessment, but we were not at school on the day that they came. We went out to New Amsterdam for our interschool’s sport and did not even know that they were coming. After they did not see us, they told the community members that they would not come back in to visit us again due to us not being around,” explained Amsterdam.

She added that they expressed their concerns to President Ali and the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, during their recent visit to Baracara, during which President Ali instructed the relevant official to address them.

According to Amsterdam, “We spoke with President Ali and Minister Edghill, and they contacted the Chief Education Officer, Mr. Hussain, who quickly reached out to us. By the next Thursday, after the President’s visit and us talking with Mr. Hussain, the lecturers came back to visit us. Thank God we were successful and would be graduating from college in a matter of weeks.”
Meanwhile, McKenzie said, “We feel great to know that President Ali, Minister Edghill, and Mr. Hussain almost immediately got this resolved. Honestly, we were disappointed to know that we were at the end of the tape, and we were told that we wouldn’t be graduating. It was very hard on us.

“Miss Amsterdam and I were so frustrated, but we felt relieved knowing that our President and his team were there for us, and they stood by their word. We want to say how thankful we are to them; all our sacrifices were not in vain. After the lecturers came back, we did our final lap, and when we saw our names on the graduating list for 2023, our hearts were filled with emotions, and we felt such relief. We ran the corridors of our school, jumping up and down and celebrating with joy, and we must thank God, our President, and his government for what they have done for us.”

Amsterdam and McKenzie also thanked the members of their close-knit community who supported them, their fellow teachers, and their pupils at Baracara Primary School.

During his recent visit to the Baracara community, President Ali revealed plans to build aquaculture farms, invest in a solar freezer as a means of assisting farmers and growing the fishing industry. He also pledged to donate 150 solar panels, develop the playground for the youths, clear the creek and donate a tractor to Baracara.