Latest update April 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 21, 2014 News
– encourages young teachers to offer skills in interior locations
Although it isn’t viewed as a simple task, the Ministry of Education is on an ambitious quest to raise the quality of education it offers.
Speaking at the Education Month rally on Friday at the National Park, Head of State, Donald Ramotar, made no bones of vocalising that while his Government has been busy putting infrastructural measures in place it is yet faced with the challenge of raising the quality of education.
And in order to achieve this goal, the President spoke of the need for keen support, particularly from young teachers. As such he made a call for “our young teachers, who are pioneers, to take up the challenge to go into the remote areas, into the interior areas, where they can make an important contribution…”
This is particularly important, he noted, because based on reports out of the Education Ministry the far-flung areas of the country are lacking enough qualified teachers.
“We have to correct that and the young are the most pioneering in spirit and for that reason I would expect the young teachers will take the challenge to go learn (about) and fall in love again with our beautiful country,” declared the President.
And while some persons may be convinced that life in the interior may be too much of a challenge, President Ramotar assured that the experience could in fact be a memorable one. Alluding to his own travels, he revealed that he has been able to travel the country extensively, as well as throughout the world. He therefore noted that “I can say without fear of contradiction that the beauty that this country possesses: in our people, in our landscape, generally is second to none that I have seen everywhere.”
According to him, too, every opportunity “I get to travel to the interior or to travel along the coastline I fall in love again with my country and I am sure many of you should take the opportunity to see what a beautiful land we have, to cherish it, to protect it and to move it along.”
And according to the President, his Government has over the years been directing much investment into the education of its children with a view of ensuring that the future is a better one for the country. And it was because of this investment, he noted that Guyana is today able to boast the highest enrolment in nursery schools. In fact he asserted that the nursery enrolment Guyana has been able to record is better than what obtains in the entire Caribbean.
Guyana’s improved nursery enrolment is characterised by an additional 2,681 children in the system, which was realised through an initiative of the Ministry to admit children earlier to schools. Previously a child had to be three years old by March 31 in order to enter Nursery School in September of the same year. However, with the revised undertaking by the Ministry, children were from this year able to enter the nursery level in September even if they would have turned three in June.
According to the Ministry, based on its figures drawn from the 10 administrative regions, there has been an average increase of 23 per cent to the enrolment.
CURRENT STATISTICS
Assistant Chief Education Officer (Nursery), Ms Ingrid Trotman disclosed that from the 465 new children enrolled in nursery schools in Region One, 115 are from the new age cohort. This figure accounts for 25 percent of the total number enrolled. In Region Two, the Ministry saw 989 new children registered for nursery school of which 158 or 16 per cent are from the new age cohort. Region Three enrolled a total of 1, 845 new nursery children of which 311 are from the new age cohort. This number amounts to 17 percent of the total children enrolled in that Region.
The number of new children benefiting from the new nursery age in Region Four amounts to 580. This figure equals 20 percent when juxtaposed with the total number enrolled for this new school year which totals 2,934.
And then in Region Five, 895 children students were registered, of which 150 are of the new age cohort accounting for 17 percent of the entire number registered.
In Region Six, the total number of children registered for nursery school is 1,206. Of that number 314 are from the new cohort and represent 26 percent of the pupils registered for this new school year.
In addition, Region Seven enrolled a total number of 177 new nursery children of which 47 are from the new cohort; accounting for 27 percent of the new children enrolled for this new school year.
Region Eight registered 198 new children of which 42 or 21 percent are from the new age cohort, while Region Nine registered 58 new children as a result of the new age cohort amounting to 17 percent of the 339 total number of nursery school children registered.
The only Region to show a 49 percent enrolment rate of children within the new nursery age cohort is Region 10. Of the 1,165 nursery children enrolled, 568 or 49 percent are from the new age cohort.
And in Georgetown there were 1,823 new nursery children registered of which 338 or 19 percent are from the new age cohort.
MEASURES IN PLACE
With the increased number of children attending nursery school across Guyana, the Ministry has made arrangement for additional furniture to be procured as well as new books and toys. Moreover, an increased number of nursery teachers have been recruited and strategically placed to absorb the increased intake of nursery school children within the sector.
The Ministry, after announcing the new nursery age earlier this year, held a number of public consultations across the country to inform parents of the essential things they needed to do in order to prepare their children for entry into the nursery school environment. Parents were encouraged to ensure they teach their children simple, but important things such as feeding themselves and using the toilet.
The change of age for enrolment at the nursery level came because of pleas made to the Minister during the national outreaches which has therefore allowed for thousands of children across the country who would have had to wait until September of 2015 to start school to benefit from an early start to their formal education.
And according to the President, “the earlier we involve our children in schools, the earlier we get them into the atmosphere of learning, the more we expect them to be a success and be able to carry on; not only to pass their exams but to live successful adult lives as well.”
In order to accommodate an increase in nursery education, the President disclosed that his Government has been building nursery schools in almost every community throughout the country.
But while the nursery level of education is seen as crucial, the President also stressed the extreme importance of primary education as well. And primary education, according to him, is equivalent to the foundation of a good and strong building. “That is why I am proud of the achievements that we have made in primary education,” said the Head of State as he alluded to the fact that Guyana has been able to achieve universal primary education.
This undertaking, according to him, is simply Guyana’s efforts towards producing more solid and well qualified individuals, an undertaking that is bolstered by the availability of secondary education. Currently Guyana is working towards achieving universal secondary education.
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