Minister of Education Shaik Baksh says that if schools are to be successful, they must become part of the communities that they serve and this year his ministry will be accelerating movement in that direction.
In an address marking the commencement of the 2010/2011 academic year, Minister Baksh said that he wanted to make it clear that “this would not be done in a manner that inhibits the effective and professional management of the school,” according to a copy of his speech.
Instead, the education minister said, “it will be executed in a way where community members see themselves as genuine stakeholders/partners advancing the education agenda.”
Baksh noted that the Ministry of Education has recognized that the success of students is not the sole responsibility of teachers but a manifestation of collective efforts involving parents and the wider community in promoting and fostering enabling environments.
And against this backdrop Education Month 2010 is being observed under the theme “Child-Friendly Homes: Child-Friendly Classrooms-Quality Education”.
In the meantime, government has been providing much needed support through the National Mentoring Programme and the School Feeding and School Uniform Programmes, Baksh said.
The mentoring programme has been widely lauded for the initial success it has achieved in the five schools in which it is currently being piloted, with the aim of promoting tolerance and inculcating safe and acceptable behaviours in students. This programme also serves to support students in their efforts to improve their all-round performance, particularly with males.
The school feeding and the school uniform programmes have also been highly praised for their impact on promoting greater equity within the education system, Baksh added.
Meanwhile, citing what he described as important developments, the education minister disclosed that during the ensuing academic year, some new programmes will commence and greater attention will be placed on strengthening those already in existence.
Prominent on the list, Baksh said, are the Associates Degree Programme at the Cyril Potter College of Education leading to the Bachelors Degree in Education at the University of Guyana; and the implementation of the Grade Four Literacy Certificate Programme which will link outcomes in the classroom with defined international literacy and numeracy standards.
Another “important development” will be the introduction of the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) at 12 more secondary schools across the country with the aim of stemming school dropouts and ensuring that secondary school students are adequately prepared for the world of work.
Baksh also disclosed that Students’ Councils will be inaugurated to monitor the behaviour of students, report on the teaching and learning programmes in the classroom, assist head teachers to devise school rules and policies and work with schools in enforcing these guidelines.
In the meantime, parent conferencing will be introduced with the objective of enlightening parents on their responsibilities in educating their children and playing more active roles in their academic progress.
There will also be a heightened focus on low performing schools through the Performance Enhancement Project (PEP) which will seek to ensure that benchmarks outlined by the Ministry of Education are achieved with special resourcing and support.
In addition, Baksh said, schools will be equipped with computer and science laboratories and teachers will be trained to utilize the computer as both a teaching and learning tool.
He noted too that remediation programmes will be institutionalized throughout the school system, both at primary and secondary schools, to bring every child to the standard of learning that is acceptable at both levels.
And efforts will be made to forge more vibrant working relationships between parents and schools through the Parent-Teachers Associations (PTAs) to ensure students are closely monitored, remain motivated, focused and results-oriented, Baksh noted.
He also said that building the capacity of teachers and education managers has been an area of prime focus and noted that recently the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) completed a series of professional development courses in various disciplines including Professional Ethics, Guidance and Counseling, Classroom Management and Health and Family Life Education to aid in that regard. Continuous Professional development courses will be offered to enhance the capacity of teachers to be more competent in their education delivery.
According to the education minister, the “once trained, always trained” approach is no longer relevant in the education sector, and participation in these Continuous Professional Development courses will soon become part of the criteria for incentive and promotion in the system.
Apart from the developments, Baksh also drew attention to some challenges in the school system, notably students’ indiscipline. He said that since the introduction of the Guidance and Counseling Programme in some schools the problem with indiscipline has been under control and shortly more trained Guidance and Counseling Officers will be added to the existing pool to fortify efforts at ensuring that the schools remain “positive supportive environments that facilitate learning.”
In the meantime, many volunteer teachers from various countries have arrived in Guyana under the World Teach and Project Trust Programmes and will be assigned to secondary schools across the country in the areas of science and mathematics. These two areas are being actively promoted by the ministry and their inputs will strengthen the efforts in this regard, Baksh added.
