Literacy and numeracy experts must be increased

Sep 08, 2009 News

By Rawle Welch
The monitoring and evaluation unit put in place by the Ministry of Education is a welcome development that should be applauded by all concerned about the delivery of education in this country.
According to Senior Minister, Shaik Baksh, the aim of the unit is to supervise the implementation of the Education Sector’s Strategic Plan and to ensure that the goals outlined are achieved during the period 2008-13.
However, there are a few areas that need to be addressed which are vitally important for the improvement of education in any country.
First of all, Guyana has and is still suffering from a dearth of quality teachers, due mainly to the meagre remuneration that members of the teaching service receive, forcing many of them to ply their trade overseas, while those who have remained are subjected to poor conditions at work which include the scarcity of text books and other related materials, making the conversion of education extremely difficult and substandard.
With the above prerequisites in mind, the question that must be asked is how much of the funding from Government and the massive $20.5 million grant that was obtained through the ‘Education For All Fast Track Initiative’ will be spent on improving the quality of personnel who are so critical to ensuring that the stated objectives are met by the stipulated period.
Amid the level of illiteracy which is well known, the best way to start is to increase the amount of literacy and numeracy experts that we have currently.
The plan must be to achieve a higher level of literacy within the specified time and that would entail support for teachers in the classroom through the assistance of head teachers and senior staffers, who will act as leaders in implementing the plan.
The disclosure by the Minister to have the Plan assessed twice yearly is also commendable, but targets of achievement must also be the focus with the main actors being held accountable for any shortfall.
There must be a vision to increase the literacy level incrementally with a specific percentage earmarked.
Apart from areas such as infrastructure, feeding programmes, resource materials, learning centres, teachers’ housing, sanitation facilities, health and nutrition and general upgrade, another subject of contention is behavioural patterns in schools which could also negatively impact on learning.
An attempt must be made to deal with anti-social behaviour and supervisors should be placed in schools to effectively eradicate any such conduct.
They should be given the authority to enforce school rules, institute standards of behaviour and have regular dialogue with teachers and parents to ensure that students adhere to the rules and regulations that govern the institution.
The Minister boasted about Guyana being at the top of the tier in terms of expenditure on education, but in order to attain tangible results, all the components stated above must be put in place to achieve holistic improvement in the sector.

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Literacy and numeracy experts must be increased

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