Extra lessons in public schools to be outlawed

-Baksh
Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh yesterday announced that the hosting of extra lessons on the premises of public schools will soon be prohibited.
At a special meeting with parents of students who attend schools in the North-East Georgetown Educational District, he told the gathering: “I intend to place a ban on any extra lessons in the schools”. The Minister was responding to a question posed by a parent who queried the Ministry’s stance on extra lessons.

Baksh stated that the Ministry intended to implement this decision shortly, and said that a circular will be sent out next month to the different schools in the country. The Minister explained that if the teachers wanted to hold extra lessons at other venues they were free to do this, but emphasised that the Ministry will no longer tolerate the hosting of the lessons at schools. He said that the “lessons syndrome is hitting the educational system hard” and expressed the belief that many of the teachers who offer extra lessons after school, often short-change their students during the normal school hours.

This announcement was greeted with a loud applause from the large gathering of parents present in the auditorium of the St. Joseph High School. Some were heard voicing open approval at the Minister’s statement.

Meanwhile, the Minister stated that from the 1st September 2009, the Ministry is hoping to have all of the Community High Schools transformed to Secondary schools.   He also said that special resources would be dedicated to these schools in an attempt to improve the academic results of its students. According to Baksh, he feels that the best teachers should be sent to these schools but when it was suggested that some teachers from the Grade A and B schools be sent to these underachieving schools, the Guyana Teacher’s Union objected.

Meanwhile, Baksh also addressed the complaint raised by another parent that students were being seriously affected by teachers who were attending classes at the University of Guyana during school hours. He identified this as a major problem affecting schools and said that the Ministry was doing its best to address the issue. He explained that each school had a quota of teachers that could be allowed attend the University and urged the schools to stick to the agreed numbers. The Minister also said that the Ministry of Education had held discussions with officials from the University to see if the classes which comprised a large number of teachers as students could be shifted so that they began at 2 pm or later. He said that while the Ministry wanted better qualified teachers, this must not be to the detriment of their students.

When the matter of inadequate furniture being provided at schools was raised, Baksh said that this too was a major problem issue plaguing the school system. He said that the Ministry had spent all of the $25M allotted in the budget for this purpose. He explained that in addition to this money that was spent, there were five contractors who had built 500 additional units of furniture and said that the Food for the Poor had donated 200 more units. He, however, stated that the administration of the schools had to share some of the blame for the problems with furniture. According to him, during the last term the Planning Department sent out correspondence to the Head Teachers of the various schools asking them what was needed by the school for the new academic year. But only about 50% of the schools responded Baksh said.  He told those gathered that if the Ministry is not informed, it will be unable to meet the needs of the schools.

This meeting with parents was the first of several such consultations which are slated to be held during this month as part of Education Month activities. (Mark McGowan)