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Education Ministry seeking to bring experts together to improve literacy – Manickchand
As part of an ongoing drive to improve literacy, the Ministry of Education is set to embark on an initiative aimed at bringing together experts in the very field to help chart the way forward.
This disclosure was recently made by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, who said that “we are about to pull together all our local experts in literacy from across whatever divides we imagine we have; be it political, geographical or gender – all of our experts, wherever they are, we will bring them together to sit down, formulate and brainstorm what would be the best way forward in pushing the literacy agenda.”
Education Minister Priya Manickchand and a Rotary Club of Georgetown official view a section of the ‘Reading Corner’ at the East Ruimveldt Primary School.
This move, the Minister noted, is geared at putting the public education system in a better position to realise better results, particularly at the lower levels of the primary grades. It is expected, the Minister added, that the initiative will help to foster improved teaching sessions in the classrooms, thereby allowing for children to reap maximum benefits.
The initiative comes at a time when education officials are of the firm belief that the public education system is much improved as it relates to the level of literacy. In fact, the Minister expressed her conviction that “we are at the best place that our country has ever been in terms of literacy.” She nonetheless confessed that there is much more work to be done.
“We are not satisfied that every single child can read, that every single child can count, and until we are satisfied that not a single child is left behind in the areas of reading and numeracy, we will still consider ourselves as having a lot of work to do, and that is where we are today. Although we are at the best place that we have ever been, we still have a whole lot of work to do.”
Manickchand sought to emphasise, too, that the education system is on a mission to capitalise on the gains that have been made in order to accelerate its efforts in the area of literacy. She pointed out that “once we do that, we know fully that it is going to be our Guyana that benefits…each individual child will benefit.”
Need for support
The Minister asserted that while the Ministry’s initiative is a noble one which is poised to realise positive results, there is an ever growing need for support. She explained that the Ministry is not merely looking to partner with parents and teachers, but it is expected that corporate entities will endeavour to direct much needed assistance behind education programmes.
She lauded the recent effort of the Rotary Club of Georgetown to partner with the Ministry to introduce reading clubs at three primary schools, a project, which according to President of the Club, Mr Khalil Ali, is poised for expansion.
“We still have a lot of work to do and this partnership particularly is welcomed. We look forward to the rolling out of more of these kinds of activities by the Rotary Club and we invite other organisations to come on board and partner in this field, where books and space are provided and training is done so that children can benefit,” the Minister added.
The recent programme, which allowed for the launching of reading clubs at the East Ruimveldt, Patentia and Beterverwagting/Quamina Primary Schools last week, saw the Rotary Club soliciting support from three major business entities – Scotiabank, Ansa McAl, and Digicel Guyana.
Such support, the Minister stressed, “is the epitome of the way we should be going as a country…Here we have a Rotary Club that is perhaps social in nature, but it is meeting its civic responsibilities and even soliciting from Corporations to engage in activities where our children are the ultimate beneficiaries.”
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