Georgetown: The Ministry of Education (MOE) today commissioned the spanking new Turkeyen Nursery School in a well-attended, simple ceremony, held in the school compound. Parents, teachers, education officials, and pupils present were very elated to be part of this proud moment in this school’s history.
In delivering her remarks, Assistant Chief Education Officer, Nursery, Ms Ingrid Trotman briefly outlined the history of nursery education in Guyana and its remarkable evolution over time. Trotman alluded to the fact that Guyana using a comprehensive curriculum is currently leading the Caribbean region in nursery education. “Today we can boast of a curriculum that caters for the holistic development of young children. This means that not only do we cater for their cognitive development, but also for the physical, social and emotional as well as moral development,” Trotman said.
She went on to encourage parents to play a more important role in the lives of their children. Parents were asked to constantly visit the teachers of their children and to inquire about their progress at school. Trotman further asked parents gathered to read with and to their children.
The Honourable Minister of Education, Ms Priya Manickchand delivered the feature address and underscored the commitment of the Government of Guyana (GOG) and that of the MOE in continuing to raise the level and standard of education delivered to children in Guyana. She said: “In this government, we take education absolutely seriously. We believe strongly that the single most important thing we can do in this country to advance development is to make sure our children get the best education they can get, so they can become the best people they can be.”
The minister pointed out that the government continues to invest significantly in education in Guyana in tangible ways that unremittingly affects the lives of Guyanese children positively. “Today in Guyana in the nursery cohort of teachers, we have a total of 1578 teachers– notwithstanding the last batch that just graduated from CPCE – of which 67 percent are trained teachers. And today in Guyana we have the most trained nursery teachers in the history of this country. We also have the most nursery schools and annexes currently in the history of this country.”
The minister also highlighted that in Guyana today, 85 percent of the children who are of nursery age attend a nursery school.
In concluding, the minister asked parents and teachers to refrain from engaging children in unnecessary protest action. The minister reaffirmed the ministry’s commitment to dealing with issues affecting schools once those issues come to the attention of the ministry. She asked that problems affecting schools should be first raised with the school’s administration for resolution. If the issues raised cannot be resolved at the school administrative level, then parents should explore other options within the education system in an effort to bring to the attention of the ministry their issues and to have them resolved. Protest action should be the last resort. She also firmly stated that under no circumstances should a school gate be locked during school hours.
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