Gov’t pushing for monitoring of school systems in all regions

Efforts to enhance and effectively monitor the school systems at the regional level and ensure they are adhered to by all stakeholders were the focus of a meeting held by the Ministries of Local Government and Regional Development and Education last Thursday with Regional Education Officers (REDOs) and Regional Executive Officers (REO) from all the regions.
According to a GINA press release, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Kellawan Lall said education is the right way of taking families out of poverty and it is the ministries’ intention to ensure much focus is placed on the delivery of all provisions in the regions, especially the hinterland communities.
This will ensure the children are not deprived access to the best quality of education, GINA reported.
Therefore, not only the provision of dietary and other supplies and the level of attention and education offered to the children are important, but so too is the management of schools, Lall said.
The issue of organising and maintaining the schools and classrooms is another aspect that has to be addressed, Lall said.
He urged teachers and students to be responsible to ensure their environment is tidy and conducive although there are cleaners.
“We have to upkeep regulations and structures and ensure they are not breached, and the REOs are given the authority to conduct regular visits to schools in their respective regions. Education Officers need to have a schedule of visits and there will be recorded monitoring of visits made,” Lall was quoted by GINA as saying.
Meanwhile, Minister of Education Shaik Baksh said that in a few weeks’ time REDO’s will be given a comprehensive document which will highlight the roles of the Central Ministry and Regional Administration to ensure proper standards are followed and that all stakeholders are benefiting from this document.
These reforms are intended to change the delivery of education with stricter management in the system in terms of training and policies.
GINA reported further that the ministry has a programme which is aimed at training people to become welfare officers in the schools so that teachers would not be burdened. Baksh said the implementation of the literacy programme in all schools is paramount and the ministry intends to ensure that the programme is done in every school, and he urged head teachers to provide one hour daily for the literacy programme to develop reading.
The Ministry of Education is also working with the Ministry of Health to ensure students are physically capable of coping in schools.