OUTLINING a series of reforms aimed at modernising the education system in Region Six (East Berbice, Corentyne), President Dr. Irfaan Ali, on Friday, announced plans to enhance monitoring, training and digitisation across the region following a two-day cabinet outreach.

Central to the planned upgrades is the introduction of a new online service that will allow teachers to process leave, retirement benefits and travel permissions more efficiently.

The initiative is intended to streamline administrative tasks so educators can dedicate more of their time to classrooms.

“We want to create a more efficient system so that our teachers are not only able to access services in a more efficient way, but they are able to spend more of their time in the classroom,” the President explained during a hybrid-style press conference on the lawns of the Albion Estate.

The government is also advancing the rollout of the Education Management Information System, designed to provide real-time data to inform decision-making on attendance, teacher performance and overall school operations.

“We have the education management information system that will allow real-time data with better decision making, including attendance, performance of teachers, teacher information and school operations.”

According to the President, significant investment has already been directed towards reducing administrative burdens on teachers and head teachers, with 40 per cent of schools currently using the system, authorities expect full national adoption by the middle of next year.

Further, a complementary data analytics platform is expected to identify weaknesses among students and teachers, supporting efforts to boost outcomes at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) and the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

SPECIAL NEEDS DEVELOPMENT

Special needs development formed another key element of the President’s plan as he explained that Region Six is set to receive increased access to specialised education, with four new facilities established and three more in progress.

“Another important issue is that of special needs development, and we’re going to be investing in this region to have increased access to special education…So you’ll have seven new spaces  to improve student outcomes, supported by a modern 2025 curriculum for learners with disability, and we want to make this digital so that these children can also access it from their home,” President Ali said.

He noted that this plan is an integrated one, being complemented by several already established programmes in the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, such as the Comprehensive Child and Youth Health Programme (CYHP), a nationwide initiative in Guyana to improve child health through early detection.

Launched in 2023, the programme focuses on vision, hearing, oral health, and general health indicators, starting with nursery-aged children.

“Better health and participation start with the inclusion of the school training programme and earlier identification of challenges, as all nursery ears are now screened and will be screened for different forms of disability.”

He reiterated that the expansion is aimed at elevating student performance and will be supported by a modern 2025 curriculum for learners with disabilities, which is intended to be digitally accessible from home.

To strengthen teaching capacity, the administration is moving ahead with enhanced training in special needs education, supported by complementary qualifications for teachers. The measures are expected to contribute to a more inclusive national education system.

Addressing longstanding issues with student transfers, the government plans to create a dedicated team to assess all transfer requests and design targeted interventions to resolve the underlying challenges.

“We have a lot of challenges with student transfer, so we want to establish a special team that will review all of these requests for student transfer, and then we’ll come up with a set of interventions,” the President said.