Ministry reports high turnout as schools reopen

Sep 07, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – As schools reopened yesterday for face-to-face teaching, the Ministry of Education reported that its preliminary data suggest that there was a high turnout at schools. Based on data received from 51 percent of the nursery and primary schools across Guyana, 70 percent of nursery pupils attended school along with 95 percent of teachers being present. At the primary level, 92 percent of teachers were in attendance with 65 percent of their pupils present.

Students of Calcutta Primary School getting ready to begin their day at school.

Sanitising of furniture at St. Sidwell’s Primary school before the start of the afternoon session.

This is according to a Ministry release which stated, “It must be noted that some schools have chosen to teach specific grades on different days to avoid crowded classrooms and to maintain social distancing.” As such, it added that the attendance data does not reflect the entire school population but rather those students who were scheduled to attend school yesterday.
Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, said that there is no right or wrong decision that parents can make regarding sending their children to school during this particular time. Parents, the Minister informed, were given the opportunity to decide how they wanted to have their children engaged – whether to send them to school or to keep them at home – and this, she said, will be supported by the Ministry.
Further, the Education Minister said that she is very pleased to see that the diagnostic assessment began across the country as the results will inform how and what teachers will teach in the coming weeks.

Minister of Education Priya Manickchand speaking with a pupil of Smyth Street Nursery school as he was being picked up by his father

During the first half of this academic year, students are expected to be taught the topics they missed last year before they move onto another grade. Teachers yesterday, were enthused to be back in school and ready to start teaching, according to the Ministry’s release.
However, this was not the case for 10 schools that were unable to open today because some of the teachers tested positive for COVID-19. “The Ministry of Education wishes for a smooth recovery process for those teachers, and will remain versatile and responsive to meet the needs of our students and teachers in this constantly evolving situation,” the release added.

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