–tenders also opened for rehabilitation, extension of two schools

THE Regional Democratic Council (RDC) of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) is preparing to spend approximately $215 million to build new nursery schools in Karrau, Itaballi, Batavia and Kako, Regional Chairman Kenneth Williams has disclosed.

The regional chair, in a statement on Sunday, said that the RDC has issued tenders seeking contractors to execute the projects.

According to the document, the construction of the nursery school slated for Karrau is estimated to cost $43 million, the school at Itaballi is estimated at $47 million, the nursery school at Batavia is estimated to cost $45 million, and the school at Kako is estimated to cost $80 million.

The RDC is also seeking contractors to construct a primary school at Wayalayeng, Upper Mazaruni, for $55 million, to rehabilitate and extend Two Miles Primary School Annex for $40 million, and to rehabilitate and extend the Kamarang Nursery School for $27 million.

The Guyana Chronicle recently reported that over 50 schools across Guyana are being either constructed or extended in a bid to improve access to education, even as the Ministry of Education is finalising changes to schools’ curriculum.

At a press conference, Education Minister Priya Manickchand provided updates on the expansion of the country’s education sector.

While Guyana has achieved universal primary education, as noted by the United Nations, Manickchand stated that the country is left to achieve universal nursery and secondary education, and, as such, efforts are underway to facilitate this.

“All over Guyana, we want nursery-aged children to be able to access a nursery school. All over Guyana, we want secondary-aged children to be able to access secondary schools,” she said.

This year, she said the government is building nursery schools across the country, along with several primary schools and secondary schools.
Meanwhile, as part of increasing access to education and improving education overall, the minister revealed that her ministry is working on a number of game-changing initiatives in relation to schools’ curriculum across the country.

Against this backdrop, concerning literacy, the ministry wants to ensure that all children can read and understand what they are reading by Grade Four.

“So, there’s going to be some curriculum change in and around that, and that begins in September. As we speak, material is being produced by our literacy unit in collaboration with our materials production department to make sure we can get our children reading and comprehending,” she said.