| Queen’s College student Elisa Hamilton with 19 grade ones and one grade two passes, was last year named the best performing Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) candidate. However, while the upside of the results was that Guyana hadMinister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraineachieved this feat multiple times,Cheap Sports Jerseys, the downside was that in 2014, half of Hamilton’s local colleagues did not pass Mathematics and English, the basic subjects.This observation was made by Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine.Delivering his preliminary thoughts on the state of education in Guyana to the National Assembly last week, he said that in addition to securing the CXC award for Overall Outstanding Achievement (Hamilton),Cheap Wholesale Jerseys, Guyana also claimed three other prestigious awards namely: Most Outstanding in Humanities (Aliyyah Abdul Kadir of Queen’s College); Most Outstanding in Business Studies (Ryhan Chand of Queen’s College) and Most Outstanding in Technical Vocational (Krishan Critchlow of New Amsterdam Multilateral School).The previous year Guyana claimed the same four awards in addition to Most Outstanding in the Sciences.Dr. Roopnaraine alluded to the observation of educator, Dr. Albert Cumberbatch, who said, “We can note that, also in 2014, some 13,700 students took the Grade Six Assessment Test – of this group, less than 0.2 per cent or about 186 pupils, scored high enough to qualify for entrance to the number one school (QC).”The Education Minister observed that “this has been the consistent narrative, over the past five years at least, and while billions of dollars have been invested into public education infrastructure, we are still met with horror stories of schools that are lacking basic facilities from lab equipment to furniture and in the most horrendous instances, toilet facilities.”With the foregoing in mind,Cheap NFL Jerseys, Dr. Roopnaraine said that the baseline for future planning in education has to be significant reform of the education system even as he acknowledged that certain problems are clear-cut, as are their solutions. He continued by pointing out that “our teachers, it must be said, are under-paid and under-valued, so we need to pay teachers more and value them more.”Dr. Roopnaraine also made reference to poor enforcement of existing rules and guidelines in the system which he observed can be countered by more emphasis on accountability.He gave attention to the fact that,Cheap Jerseys China, “We have the lion’s share of resources concentrated in schools and educational institutions in the capital and on the coast, so we need to ensure that resources are equitably spread,China Jerseys Wholesale, including the establishment of technical and vocational institutes in hinterland communities.”In outlining the way forward for the sector, the Minister noted that the role of the Ministry of Education under the current administration is going to necessarily be far more expansive than simply addressing nursery to tertiary concerns, as challenging as those will be.And there will also be the challenge of fundamentally changing how government operates so that, “We can work with our fellow state institutions in crafting a bold and innovative new pedagogy of development, of citizenship, of tolerance, of progress, one that connects to and resonates with all our people.”Guyana, he said, has proven time and time again that, “We possess individuals within this society who are capable of excelling, despite the general conditions, capable of rising above the tide of stagnating and worsening education delivery.”With excellence at the primary goal,Cheap Buffalo Bills Jerseys, the Minister noted that Guyana is poised to benefit from a needed wave of new reforms in which “all boats rise equally and provide an even higher point of departure for those who would excel.” |
