Amidst pandemic in 2021 education sector stood strong

The PPP/C government has made significant efforts in ensuring that opportunities for
development are available to all Guyanese, despite being in office for just over one year. The
Education Ministry in particular, has taken several steps to ensure that the population remains
educated even amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Government while in opposition, during its campaigning, prior to the 2020 Elections,
promised to award 20,000 scholarships during its first-term in office. However, within the first
nine months, that promise has been honoured, with the commencement of the first tranche of
4,500 scholarships, through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL). It was noted that
thousands of persons will benefit until that promise of 20,000 scholarships is fully achieved
every year,. The year 2021 alone saw thousands of Guyanese pursuing studies at international
universities.
Additionally, thousands of university courses were also made available to Guyanese through the
Coursera programme. An estimated 55,000 citizens, including more than 8,000 teachers,
benefited from a myriad of certifiable courses, from internationally recognised institutions. The
education ministry despite assuming office during the COVID-19 pandemic, hit the ground
running, ensuring that every child was meaningfully engaged, while being away from school. As
such, worksheets for each grade were developed and distributed across the 10 administrative
regions. Thus far, 58,890 worksheets for the Nursery level, 239,004 at the Primary level and 235,
864 at the Secondary level, were distributed. The ministry said that teachers were also required
to utilise online platforms to virtually engage students, while the government worked on making
electronic devices accessible to those who needed it the most.
Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, in a press conference just months after taking office in
2020 highlighted some of the efforts made to keep the students actively engaged.“We have done
several things, engagements online, dedicated the learning channel to timetabled learning
instructions, we have been using the radio, we have done worksheets. All of those have been
effective to some extent, none will be able to trump the value of a trained teacher in front of the
classroom. We could not send our children and teachers back without hearing from them and
making sure what they told us is what we did,” Manickchand said. The ministry also
implemented all steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It resulted in care packages, inclusive
of masks, hand sanitisers, vitamins and face shields were distributed to students, teachers and
support staff. As government forge ahead in its aim to modernise and create a digital-friendly
learning environment, a number of smart-classrooms were commissioned in various secondary
schools.  The ministry was also able to provide 1,053 technological inputs to students and
teachers, first starting with the underprivileged.
Therefore, complementing the smart classrooms, the Irfaan Ali-led government, allocated
$200M for the expansion of the Guyana Learning Channel. This allocation, the minister stressed
benefitted students from Year One Kindergarten to Grade Eleven, in keeping with the
government’s vision to utilise technology to boost education delivery. The Guyana Learning
Channel also launched a Whiz Kid platform, a game show, which is geared at preparing students
for the National Grade Six Assessment. This programme was expanded to reach over 100

Amerindian communities last year. Further, over $65M in ICT equipment was also given to
TVET institutions for online learning. The education minister revealed that a key promise of the
government was the restoration of the “Because We Care” cash grant to students. This initiative
was reintroduced and improved. She said that while the previous grant in 2014 was $10,000, the
government increased it to $15,000 per child. The uniform allowance was also increased from
$2,000 to $4,000 per child. As such, every child registered in the public school system received
$19,000 last year.

She noted that the $3.2B invested by government, benefitted a whopping 175,000 students,
nationwide. Not to be left out the government expended a further $320M to provide at least
17,000 children attending private schools with the $19,000 cash grant. She revealed that the
government further invested huge sums to rehabilitate and construct new schools across the
country, with the view of ensuring that students were comfortably accommodated when schools
reopened. She pointed out that the completion of the Westminster Secondary School is just one
of several schools constructed last year to house over 1000 students. This school, she stressed
which has already opened its doors, will also eliminate all primary tops existing in Region Three.
“A primary top is where the student goes to a primary school and there’s no space in any
secondary school in the region for them, so they continue on in primary and call themselves
secondary students. That is not, as I’m sure you would agree, the proper or optimum way to be
educating children…There are three primary tops closed here…that have been closed completely
and those children are now coming to this school. A proper, discrete Secondary school with all
the facilities and I guarantee you, you’re going to see them doing better,” Manickchand said at
the opening of the school.
The education minister declared that as government continues to make access to education easier
for Guyanese, the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) programme will now
be done at Anna Regina Secondary School in Region Two and the West Demerara Secondary
School, Region Three. Additionally, the ministry made great efforts to have pre-service
education provided online and mandated that all uncertified or underqualified teachers be
upskilled, to the point of eligibility for certification. Minister Manickchand stressed that adapting
to the changes brought on by the pandemic, the Cyril Potter College of Education has gone fully
online. Therefore, this year, over 2500 students were accepted – a tremendous increase from the
over 500 seen normally. She added that the education ministry and by extension, the Guyana
Government has accomplished much over the last year as they demonstrated their commitment,
to ensuring Guyanese have access to educational opportunities at all levels.