Over 1,000 students benefit from educational packages in Region 1

Jul 23, 2020 News

Over 1,000 students in the Mabaruma and Matarkai, Region One, became beneficiaries of educational packages prepared by the region’s Department of Education (DOE) in collaboration with Guyana Aid Region One Inc; a New York-based non-profit organization.

Some of the workbooks created by Mabaruma’s Department of Education

Speaking with Kaieteur News, District Education Officer, Marti De Souza, said that it is his belief that nursery education is of the utmost importance, hence the initiative for the provision of relief packages was born.
“…with schools still closed, the Department of Education in Region One is focused on ensuring that continuous learning remains intact.”
De Souza explained that after schools were closed in March, two things were certain – the first was that parents of nursery children did not have adequate materials to do any kind of work with their children and secondly, due to lack of wireless internet connection and technological resources, it would have been difficult for any effective ‘online’ class be held with children.
De Souza said that it was after this realization, that he organized a team inclusive of two nursery field officers, who collaborated in the putting together early childhood relief packages.
The packages, which were designed specifically for nursery students, comprised of stationery items as well as locally prepared and printed workbooks.
“The Department of Education funded the purchasing of the materials from their little budgetary allocation. Some 300+ packages were assembled and distributed. All nursery schoolchildren and those in the nursery classes in even the most remote schools got a package.”
He further stated that, “this was distributed along with the MOE’s children nursery workbooks, with the aim of keeping the early childhood

Marti De Souza (right) poses with parents

programme active.
Additionally, De Souza noted that with the help of a group of teachers who he considers as “frontline workers”, the DOE was able to create workbooks for children of grades 1, 3 and 5, based on the curriculum set out by the Ministry of Education for the August term.
He explained that he met with the teachers, who studied and came up with content catering to the four core areas of study- Language, Mathematics, Science and Social Studies.
The DEO explained the approximately 80,000 pages for workbooks were done with help from Guyana Aid, who donated five toner inks to the education department.
This donation, he noted, saw over 1,000 children in Mabaruma and some in Matarkai benefitting.
Furthermore, the DEO revealed that after word of the educational relief packages spread, his team received many requests from persons throughout the country for the local workbooks to be made available.
The COVID-19 pandemic has, without a doubt, had an overwhelming affected on society, specifically on the delivery of educations across the country.
The Ministry of Public Health had hinted to the re-opening of schools in its daily update to the nation on Monday, despite the alarming number of cases being recorded daily.
In its release, the Ministry stated that, “Similarly, the Ministry is urging schools that are scheduled to reopen for the new academic year to begin thinking and drawing up a comprehensive plan to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus in our schools.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News