–ahead of Monday’s reopening
WITH schools across Guyana set to reopen for the new academic year on Monday, August 31, the Ministry of Education has ramped up a nationwide inspection drive to ensure that every institution, in all 10 administrative regions, is fully prepared to receive students, teachers and parents when the Christmas term begins.
The push is anchored by a multi-stakeholder task force that Sonia Parag, Minister of Education, activated earlier this month, built around a checklist first developed at a high-level meeting involving Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Kwame McCoy; Minister in the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Pauline Sukhai; Minister within the Ministry of Agriculture, Vikash Ramkissoon; and Members of Parliament Suresh Singh and Sonia Latchman.
That checklist now forms the basis on which Regional Executive Officers (REOs) nationwide are physically inspecting every school and submitting photographic evidence of their readiness.
The effort has combined virtual oversight with hands-on inspection.
Minister Parag has met virtually with REOs and their teams across the country, directing that no school be left unchecked before Monday.
“We must not have any complaints when schools are reopened,” she told REOs during one such session, a standard she has since carried into a series of site visits of her own.
In Region Five, the minister toured West End Nursery, Mahaicony Primary and Mahaicony Secondary, along with the latter’s adjacent dormitory, accompanied by Regional Executive Officer Mary Samaroo and Regional Education Officer Selestine LaRose.
At each stop, she engaged directly with teachers, cleaners and contractors carrying out extension works, pressing for classrooms that are clean, conducive and safe for the new term.
The inspection drive has since extended to Georgetown, where Minister Parag visited institutions along Woolford Avenue, home to several schools, including the Richard Ishmael Secondary, the Government Technical Institute, North Georgetown Secondary School and St. Joseph High School, together serving more than 6,000 students.
The avenue is currently closed for drainage and other infrastructural works, including new concrete drains aimed at ending flooding that has long affected the corridor.
Minister Parag has since directed the ministry’s engineers to work closely with counterparts at the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, and came away assured that access for parents, teachers and students will not be disrupted when classes resume.
With days remaining before the new term begins, the ministry says the combination of nationwide inspection, inter-agency collaboration and targetted infrastructural investments reflects its determination to ensure a smooth, safe start to the school year for students across Guyana.
