Education Ministry launches ‘Whiz Kids’ for Grade Six students

The Ministry of Education’s Guyana Learning Channel launched its ‘Whiz Kids’ game show last
week at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD).
Ms. Anieshaw Mohamed, head of the Distance Learning programme, said the initiative is the
brainchild of Education Minister, Ms Priya Manickchand sparked by tête-à-tête on schoolwork
with her niece.
‘Whiz Kids’ features Grade Six students from various primary schools competing against each
other in the four subject areas: Mathematics, English language, Science and Social Studies at the
National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) used as the litmus test for entrance to secondary schools
in Guyana.

The two finalists will face off on July 28.
Grade Six students are scheduled to write their second mock examinations next month. Minister
Manickchand said the tests will be written under strict examination conditions. A Ministry of
Education press statement said with under 40 days left for the official NGSA tests, Manickchand
believes it will be glitch-free and managed by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).
Manickchand said novel programmes and initiatives launched by the ministry such as the NGSA
Booster Programme, the Quiz Me platform, printing of worksheets and the creation and
distribution of study packages were done quickly and under immense pressure, despite tragedies
and interruptions.
Appropriate national responses, including that of students, will be the game changer,
Manickchand observed.
“You have to rise up. You have to face it and you have to overcome it. So, whenever you meet a
challenge in your life, remember this lesson that you can rise up, you can face it and you can

overcome it. That’s what we tried to do with these programmes,” Manickchand reportedly told
Grade Six Students.
The minister is demanding bang for her buck from all the investments made in the primary
sector of the country’s public education system.
“We cannot continue like this. We have to do it with a view of getting better results,” the
Minister stressed.
“There will be no space in the sector for laziness; from parents, from teachers, from education
officers. We have to change that; it is the only way all these programmes will make a
difference,” Manickchand stated.
Malachi Seales of North Georgetown Primary School, and Justin Goberdhan of Mae’s
Schools lauded ‘Whiz Kids’ for significant improvements in their learning. The show is
aired on Wednesdays and Fridays at 19:00h (7:00 pm) on the Guyana Learning Channel
(GLC) and its Facebook page, and is also available on the GLC’s YouTube channel.