Latest update March 19th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jan 19, 2011 News
— UG to benefit from $769M subvention
Public Education is expected to be perceptibly improved this year with the allocation of a whopping $24.3B to the Education Sector, reflecting the biggest allocation to any sector in this year’s budget. Last year, the Education Sector was also allotted the most attractive chunk of the budget, in the sum of $21.4B.
In presenting the budget on Monday, Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said that the allocation is geared towards the continued successful implementation of the National Education Strategic Plan. He explained that a major initiative being launched by the Government lies in the harnessing of Information Communication Technology (ICT) to aid the delivery of quality education. And foremost among the initiatives to achieve this objective, Dr Singh noted, is the establishment of the Education Television Broadcasting Service.
“Preparatory costs of over $147M have already been incurred, while another $56M is budgeted for the operations this year, which will see the transmission of educational programmes to all communities across the country, and will enable every community to access the education network within the first half of this year,” Dr Singh revealed.
Also this year, a major effort to upgrade teacher training capability will be undertaken, with the commencement of the US$4.2M Guyana Improving Teacher Education Project, for which the sum of $200M has been budgeted. This project, the Finance Minister said, will seek to improve the quality and efficiency of teacher education delivery, while building human resources and capacity for more effective teaching and learning.
Further, an additional sum of $919M has been budgeted for teacher training towards the medium-term target of achieving 70 per cent trained teachers in the system by 2013.
According to Dr Singh, Government’s commitment to support vulnerable members of society remains strong, especially when it concerns the country’s children. As such, the National School Feeding Programme has been allocated over $1B and will continue to deliver a snack to every student in all nursery schools and Grades One and Two of primary schools.
Additionally, in an effort to ensure every child is afforded access to education, the National School Uniform Assistance Programme will continue to be implemented this year and will see every school child being provided with one uniform during the year.
Another $1.6B has been budgeted for technical vocational education, towards the completion of construction works at the vocational centres in Regions Three and Five, the construction of a student dormitory at Essequibo Technical Institute, and provision of tools, equipment, materials and furniture for institutes countrywide, allowing increasing numbers of students an alternative pathway.
Some $2.8B has been allocated for the continued maintenance, rehabilitation, extension and construction of educational facilities countrywide including the construction of Diamond Primary School, the extensions of Annai Secondary, St Pius Primary, St Christopher and Albouystown Nursery Schools along with the completion of Leonora Secondary School, dormitories at Charity, Kwakwani and Sand Creek, and construction of science laboratories at a number of schools.
Dr Singh emphasised that Government has recognised that there is no investment more important than the citizenry, particularly in the education of young people. As such, he noted that the aim is to implement effective programmes to improve access to, and quality of education, with a strong emphasis on equipping the labour force with the skills needed in the domestic economy of tomorrow.
“This vision has been articulated and guided by a series of plans in the education sector, the current one being the National Education Strategic Plan 2008-2013, towards which Government expended a sum of $21.4B over the last year.”
Major initiatives undertaken by the Government in 2010 included the National School Feeding Programme which cost over $900M and benefited more than 63,000 students even as the National School Uniform Assistance Programme benefited over 200,000 students. Additionally, $923M was expended on construction works at two new technical institutes in Regions Three and Five, along with the procurement of furniture, tools, and equipment for all institutes, while another $129M was expended on the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) implemented in 18 additional secondary schools.
Furthermore, $875M was expended on teacher education towards the operations and renovation works at the Cyril Potter College, which added a total of 364 trained teachers to the education system last year. The Guyana Improving Teacher Education Project, which commenced in October last year, has attracted more than 400 students who are expected to graduate in 2012, achieving their Associate Degree in Education.
Another $2.4B was expended last year towards the maintenance, rehabilitation, extension and construction of educational facilities throughout Guyana, while 78 information technology laboratories were completed at primary and secondary schools, with 11 more slated for completion this year, Dr Singh disclosed.
University of Guyana
The Finance Minister told the House on Monday, too, that works are slated to continue this year on the design of a US$10M project to strengthen the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Guyana as a permanent academic and research institutional presence. This, he said, is geared towards mainstreaming the environment by addressing the national priorities flowing from the implementation of the LCDS. Accompanying this initiative, he noted, will be the establishment of a world class Centre of Excellence for Biodiversity Studies and Research at the University.
The University has been allocated $769M towards the operations and maintenance of the Turkeyen and Tain campuses, whilst a further $450M has been provided for student loans. Last year, over $700M was allocated to the University, comprising $657M for recurrent expenditure on the operations and maintenance of the two campuses, and $48M on capital expenditure to enable the completion of works on the office building at Tain, upgrading of plumbing and electrical facilities, procurement of science laboratory equipment, library books and furnishings.
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