No more primary tops by 2026 – Education Minister says

Jun 30, 2025 News

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand

Kaieteur News – By 2026, Guyana will completely eliminate the use of “primary tops” and will ensure that each child across the country get quality access to education within their residence.

This is according to Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand.

The primary top is a long-standing, substandard educational arrangement in which students who passed their NGSA but lack access to a nearby secondary school are taught secondary-level content in their old primary schools, often by untrained teachers.

Minister Manickchand said in 2020, there were some 1,278 children in primary tops. “We moved from placing 1,278 children in a primary top… to today, placing 267 children in a primary top and by 2026, that will be zero, because the schools we are currently constructing will be finished”, the education minister relayed last Wednesday, during the announcement of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results at the Arthur Chung Conference Center.
She emphasised the inadequate conditions of these setups, saying, “If you’re from the hinterland, the East Bank, or Region Three, you know what a primary top is. It’s not optimal education. You go back to the primary school and do some secondary work with untrained teachers.”

To resolve this bugbear, Manickchand stated that 39 new secondary schools have either been built or under construction across the country, stretching from Regions One to Georgetown. Of these, 22 are located in the hinterland regions; Regions One, Seven, Eight, and Nine, where access to secondary education has been limited. She noted, “In 1992, there were only three secondary schools in the hinterland. By 2015, that number grew to 13. Between 2015 and 2020, not a single secondary school was built. We’ve changed that.”

In Region One, five secondary schools are being built, with one completed and another set for completion by the end of June. Contracts have been awarded for schools at Hosororo and other key locations, with schools in Waramuri and Kwebanna expected to be finished by August. In Region Seven, schools are being constructed at Jawala, Philippi, Karrau, and Isano. Region Eight will see new secondary schools at Kopinang, Monkey Mountain, and Maikobi. In Region Nine, eight schools are under development or completed, including institutions at Yupukari, Katoka, Tapachinga, Morinao, Nappi, Masara, Karasabai, and Karaudanau, the latter of which will also serve children from Bashaizon and Achiwib. A secondary school is also being built in Orealla to serve students from both Orealla and Siparuta.

Manickchand emphasised that this expansion is not only about infrastructure, but about transforming the national education narrative by shifting focus on quality secondary education across every region instead of students going to primary tops or trying to attain a top school on the coast. “It’s no longer going to be about whether you got into a secondary school on the coast. It’s about how well your school in the village is doing,” she stated. “We’re already providing the same resources, the same teachers. The shift now is to ensure that quality matches access.”

Meanwhile, this year, children from the hinterland regions have excelled in their NGSA, earning top schools in the country.

During the question-and-answer segment, when asked whether data exists comparing performance between coastal and hinterland schools, the minister confirmed that such analysis is being compiled and will be shared in future reports. “We do look at that,” she said. “Dr. Manning at CXC does standard analyses, but we will certainly add this for future evaluations.”

As the government continues to close the educational gap between urban and rural regions, Manickchand stated, “We’re not just fixing a system, we’re building a new one where every child, everywhere in Guyana, has a real chance at a high-quality education.”

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Karasabai, Katoka, Masara, Morinao, Nappi, Primary tops, Priya Manickchand, Tapachinga, Yupukari

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