Learning resources exhibition launched

Sep 10, 2008 News

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– teachers urged to utilise materials

As part of the observation for Literacy Week, the Ministry of Education in collaboration with the National Center for Resource Development (NCERD), yesterday launched its exhibition of learning resources.
The exhibition, which is being held at NCERD in Kingston, showcases how educational materials and other resources can be utilized in a more friendly and fun way, so that students can learn faster and easier.
The objectives of the exhibition is to sensitize the public on the types of learning materials available to teachers and parents to help their children in their pursuit of knowledge towards a career, as well as to expose teachers to best practices in the classroom.
The exercise also aims at helping teachers and parents to improve their teaching skills, and to expose teachers to innovative technology that can be used in the classroom to create opportunities for critical thinking.

In this context, Education Minister, Shaik Baksh urged that teachers make effective use of the learning materials that they have benefited from at the expense of the Education Ministry.
The Minister explained that a recent survey conducted by the Ministry found that hinterland communities are not making use of the resources being sent to these remote areas.
To curb this, Minister Baksh said that a team has been deployed to the relevant areas in an effort to ‘unlock the cupboards’ so that both teachers and students can make effective use of the learning materials.
He explained that over the last three years, Government has expended close to $2.5 billion within the education sector in providing learning resources to educational institutions across the country.
According to the Education Minister, this clearly shows an unprecedented  commitment by Government in this sector. In addition, he noted that Guyana recently received five million books for the school system.
In order to ensure that these books are being properly utilized, education officers will be making frequent checks to all the schools.
Expressing similar sentiments was Acting Chief Education Officer, Genevieve Whyte-Nedd who urged teachers to use the resources at their disposal to the best of their ability and not to only ‘dress up’ the classrooms.
“The appeal must be there for the child to want to enquire and to explore and to ask questions about what they learn. We must release the books and not lock them up in our school cupboards…allow our learners to explore the world and beauty of books,” Mrs. Whyte-Nedd said.
She explained that teachers need to be very interactive with students since, according to her, it is in the classrooms that such action takes place.
Meanwhile, Minister Baksh said that as part of the Ministry’s drive to deliver quality education to children in Guyana, a continuous professional development program throughout the school system will commence in the latter half of 2009.
Baksh noted that this program will be done in collaboration with the Fast Track Initiative Program.
He also revealed that a proposal has been made to double the intake of persons at the Teachers Training College.
Whilst admitting that this will require a lot of resources, Minister Baksh noted that it’s all part of providing quality teachers.
“If we do not have the relevant learning resources, we would not be able to achieve our objectives. We can have all the materials in the world, but if it is not used beneficently then it does not serve its purpose and therefore the task of NCERD is to oversee the utilization of materials across the administrative regions,” Minister Baksh said.
He also urged each and every school in the country to have a library in place in order to improve the level of literacy in the country.
As it relates to distance learning, Baksh revealed that a National Committee will soon be established in Guyana and will be driven by an open and distance learning policy.
The Ministry has already identified a consultant in order to develop that policy and, according to Minister Baksh, it is the way for the future of education across the world and it will be the same way for Guyana.
Meanwhile, in an effort to promote the utilization of books by students, the Ministry of Education is now seriously considering the proposal of making English Literature a compulsory subject in the school system for all streams, whether it is Art, Business or Science.
“I see that as one way of ensuring that children read and I’m looking at that and we will make a decision shortly. Every public school in this country must have literature as a compulsory subject,” Baksh said.

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