The good life – More than a slogan – Part Two

Nov 25, 2018 APNU Column, Features / Columnists

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PUBLIC EDUCATION

We inherited in May 2015 a crisis in the public primary and secondary education system with over half of our students failing the National Grade Six Assessment.

Your government is creating a 21st century nation. Our educational policy aims at providing students with the knowledge, skills and values to become productive citizens in the economy of the future.

Your government has prioritized educational access, attendance and achievement. The Public Education Transport Service (PETS) (known popularly as the 3 B’s Initiative) was born out of the recognition that many parents found it costly to send their children to school.  The Service has distributed 1,254 bicycles, 28 buses and 9 boats. PETS is saving parents money and, more important, it is getting our children to school without expending a dollar from the government’s coffers.

We are taking steps to improve the performance of all learners. A menu of measures to enhance the quality of education is being implemented. Some of these measures that have yielded the most success, especially at the primary level, include teacher training, the provision of resources, and targeted interventions.

Over three thousand, five hundred primary school teachers have been equipped with the necessary pedagogical skills for quality delivery of the curriculum. The Ministry of Education, recognizing that the use of resources is integral to enhancing achievement of learners, has procured resources for all primary schools. These resources include textbooks, musical instruments, micro-science kits, and toolkits for mathematics, literacy and social studies.

Targeted interventions, especially in numeracy and literacy, have resulted in improved performance in the National Grade Six Assessment. The percentage passes in English moved from 42 percent in 2016 to 60 percent in 2018; Mathematics moved from 14 percent in 2016 to 38 percent in 2018; and Science from 28 percent to 46 percent.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Guyana’s public health system, in the past, was plagued by inadequate infrastructure, high maternal mortality rates, weak disease prevention measures, poor emergency health response and constraints to access to health services, particularly for hinterland residents.

Your government has continued, over the past year, to address these deficiencies. Health infrastructure is being improved. A river ambulance was provided for Orealla Village to transport and provide medical interventions for pregnant mothers and other emergency cases en route to the nearest health facility.

Access to public health services is being improved. Maternity Waiting Homes have been commissioned to make accommodation for high-risk pregnant mothers, particularly those from the hinterland regions. We will upgrade, next year, the Maternity Unit of the New Amsterdam Hospital in order to improve maternal services further.

The Ministry of Public Health is in the process of mapping the proximity of health facilities to communities to ensure that, as far as possible, a health facility is located within 5km of a community.  Plans are on stream to upgrade health centres to polyclinics, especially in large catchment areas.

Preventative treatment will be intensified. A programme for the screening and treatment of eye diseases in children and providing them with low-cost spectacles is one of the many interventions that will be undertaken.

HOUSING

Many new housing areas were bedeviled by low levels of occupancy and abysmal infrastructure. Poor solid waste management created insanitary conditions.

Your government will continue to expand access to housing and improve infrastructure within housing areas. The “housing solutions” model has seen the commencement, over the past year, of 250 housing units – of which 163 were completed.  Development works have been carried out in both new and existing housing areas, including in Amelia’s Ward, Farm, Herstelling, No. 76 Village, Perseverance, Zeeburg and Zeelugt.

Roads have been improved in Perseverance, La Parfaite Harmonie, Westminster and Amelia’s Ward. Electrification services were expanded to Zeelugt, Covent Garden, Peter’s Hall, Barnwell (EBD), Eccles and Hope, (WCB).

A spatial development plan has been completed for Sophia and similar ones will be undertaken for Bartica, Lethem, Mabaruma and for the lower East Bank Demerara.

The Ministry of Communities proposes to undertake infrastructural works, in 2019,  in nine new housing areas, the upgrading of three recreational areas, the consolidation of 18 existing areas, the installation of electricity in eight communities and the completion of 450 housing units. It will offer full-house subsidies in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo Region.

SOCIAL PROTECTION

Your government will continue to bring relief to senior citizens. It has already increased monthly old-age pensions by 48.6 per cent from $13,125 to $19,500. It has also increased public assistance by 35.5 per cent from $5,900 to $8,000.  One hundred and fourteen persons with disabilities are currently being trained in computer and other skills.

The Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency, since January 2017, has found jobs for a total of 1,869 job seekers.

The Ministry of Social Protection, in 2019, will place emphasis on enhancing youth employment, the development of a national sexual harassment policy, reducing violence in schools and the welfare of the aged.

PUBLIC BROADCASTING

Your government has established a constellation of public broadcasting services at Aishalton, Bartica, Lethem, Mahdia, Mabaruma and Orealla, which along with Radio Paiwomak, is according citizens the right to information and to be heard. Public broadcasting services can be used to provide critical information, including warnings and alerts of the threat, or the occurrence, of natural disasters or emergencies.

Public broadcasting services can be used to summon help and relief. They can be utilized to provide advisories, which can save lives and protect citizens from harm.

 

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