–facility expected to enhance the lives of students and teachers

FOLLOWING the opening of a new $25 million Department of Education Office in the Oronoque community of Region One (Barima-Waini), by the Minister of Housing and Water, Collin Croal, and the Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Sonia Parag, last weekend, government officials have said that both students and teachers are now expected to excel with the enhanced educational facility.

In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, the Housing Minister expressed his optimism that the new building will improve the lives of the local students in addition to providing a comfortable and conducive work environment for staff.

“The conference room at the Regional Administration served as the home for the Department of Education employees, but it was an insufficient space for the expanding group. However, I am hoping that Matarkai sub-region will be motivated by this major 30 x 50-foot structure and deliver significantly in their education,” he said.

Ensuring that the needs of the children are met through the services that are offered to them, Minister Croal added that the facility will be equipped with the right personnel to attend to their respective needs.

He said: “It is nice that we have a new facility, but we have to also ensure that everyone benefits from it, especially our children. In order to ensure maximum operational functioning, the large building is built to comfortably house two education officers, two school welfare officers, staff members from the Cyril Potter College of Education, and extra support workers.”

Minister Croal further said that it is the aim of the government to ensure that the building serves as a central location for improving education delivery, which, according to him, will benefit all communities within the region.

He also added: “With the increase in population within the region, we are also working on prioritising the resources that are required for the provision of services in this regard. I must also say that this new facility is a testament to our endeavour to ensure that every child has access to the highest level and quality of education that is offered in this country.”

At the launch, Minister Croal revealed that during the Cabinet’s last meeting, they had approved the expedited process for the extension to certain schools in Region One.
He noted: “We are ensuring that we are quickly having 100 per cent access to universal secondary education.

More responsibilities, yes, but we want to see our students attending school and getting better grades. We are investing in teachers; we are investing in facilities, we need you to do your part.”

Minister Parag, in her presentation, said that the government is making every effort to fortify the educational system by ensuring that the required learning facilities are available.

Minister Parag said: “We want to bring that everywhere because everywhere there are children, and our children deserve access to education and a system where we can have the best teachers so that they can carry out their function.”

Earlier this year, the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, said in an online show called “The Guyana Dialogue” that the Government of Guyana intends to construct 13 new schools this year so as to ensure that every child has access to education. She also noted that the 13 schools will be a mix of nursery, primary, and secondary schools.

According to her: “It’s a massive access programme that we are trying very hard to make sure there is access to every single child, regardless of where they live, to secondary education.”

Despite achieving universal primary education, the minister stated that her government will continue to construct elementary schools since the nation is “developing so rapidly” and the Housing Ministry is expanding the number of housing areas it is opening.

The minister also added that the ministry will ensure the schools have sufficient seating and an improved quality of education.

In this year’s budget, the Ministry of Education has been allotted some $135.2 billion, of which $28.7 billion is designated for the building, renovation, and maintenance of educational institutions and school buildings nationwide, and $3 billion is for the purchase of textbooks.