Private schools own top spots at NGSA

Jun 30, 2018 News

Education officials are concerned about the performance of public schools when compared with private institutions, particularly, in Georgetown at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry.

Immediately after the NGSA results were released on Thursday, Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry, convened a meeting with head teachers of public schools and regional education officers to examine the performance of public schools.
“As a Ministry, we have to continue to work to do better. We are an institution and we are a critical institution; and if we cannot deliver in this Ministry then the people of this country ultimately cannot be delivered,” Henry stated when asked about the performance of the public schools.
The concerns come at a time when Government continues to boast about spending more money in the education sector.
Based on the results released by the Ministry, this year’s top three students are all from private schools. Naila Rahaman of Westfield Preparatory topped the country with a perfect score of 529.
This is the first time that a student has perfected the national exams.
The next two students were New Guyana School’s Arthur Roberts, who scored 525 and Kaydee Ali of Success Elementary, who finished with 524 marks.
In Georgetown, 15 of the 17 top students are from private schools.
The results of the top one percent show that the gap between private and public schools is much closer, but overall, the private schools themselves had a larger concentration of students who made the top bracket.
Overall, New Guyana School, a private institution, had 23 students in the top one percent, which is the highest number for all schools.
Following closely was Mae’s Under 12 with 21 students; Green Acres Primary, 16; Success Elementary, 15; and Region 3′ Academy of Excellence, 12.
These are all private schools.
“We have to go back to the drawing board,” Henry stated, while expressing the desire to deliver better results.
The Minister expressed the view that the results are being scrutinized now more than ever because of the open and transparent approach adopted by the Government.
“This is what growth looks like. This is what transparency looks like because we took a decision to let people know this is where the percentage is because we want our people to work with us,” Henry stated.
She noted that the Ministry has to share the information, as this is the pace of growth, although at times this can be painful.
“You are going to be up sometimes, you’re going to be down sometimes; but the bottom line is we’re not going back to no 11% and 13%. We moving forward and we are moving towards all of our subject areas at 50% and more.
“That is my commitment to the people of Guyana when I took up the job as Minister of Education and that is what we will deliver to the people of Guyana,” Henry stated.