Help end learning loss, get vaccinated!

Education Minister Priya Manickhand is urging Linden residents to help end learning by taking
the COVID-19 jab.
Manickchand was part of a government team in the impoverished bauxite-mining municipality
distributing cash grants under the administration’s multi-billion dollar ‘Because we are’
initiative targeting some 170,000 public school students.
Referring to research findings, the education minister told her audience that surveys show a
learning loss is a consequence of the extended stay-at-home among students triggered by the
global pandemic which, so far, has killed more than 4 million globally and more than 500 in
Guyana.

Minister Priya Manickchand interacting with parents following the launch of
the cash grant distribution[/caption]

Inoculation against the novel corona virus helps, Manickchand assured.
“It is not a mandatory thing, but I’m begging you to consider it and to take this vaccine. Do this
for our children. It’s a plea, I’m begging you,” she told Lindeners.
The education ministry plans reopening schools for in-person instructions but Upper
Demerara/Berbice (Region Ten) residents remain sceptical about the vaccination programme.
The mineral-rich region has the lowest rate of vaccination nationwide.
Less than 20 percent of Region 10 residents have been vaccinated, while the figure is upwards of
50 percent in the other nine administrative regions. The Covid jab is a net of safety for in-class
learning, Manickchand explained.
The virtual classroom is not finding favour with students either, and thousands are fleeing, the
education minister admits.
After the completion of the first mock examination for the National Grade Six Assessment
(NGSA) official records show that some 2600 students did not write the examination. According
to the Minister, the results from the examination were cause for worry, hence her appeal.

“If you don’t take this vaccine, I can’t open schools and if we don’t open schools your children
will (continue to) suffer. All these dreams we had of what they will be when they grow up will
be affected. It is one of the realities of the times we’re living. You are their only shield.”
The Guyana Government plans importing vaccines to inoculate children between the ages
of 12 to 17 very soon, Manickchand said. She encouraged parents to ensure their children
are vaccinated against COVID-19 when the programme commences.