Georgetown, GINA, January 15, 2004

Legislation to establish a National Council for Technical and Vocational Education (T-VET) in the Education Sector is completed and will be presented to Parliament this year.
The Ministry of Education has secured a US$8M loan from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) to improve T-Vet in schools and technical institutions, so said Minister of Education Henry Jeffrey.
Moving into the new year, the Ministry of Education thinks it unfortunate that the relationship between itself and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU) has deteriorated.
“It is not good for the Education Sector,” said Minister Henry Jeffery.
The Minister said the success of the Ministry is critical to cooperation and support from teachers, parents and the relevant stakeholders
In an end of year press conference today at the National Centre for Educational Research and Development (NCERD) a number of programmes implemented in 2003 and critical to 2004’s operations were identified.
The Education Strategic Plan 2003 – 2007 was launched last year. This plan focuses specifically on literacy, equity and modernization. As a result, the year 2003 was declared the year of preparation.
The Basic Education Access Management Support (BEAMS) Programme also came on stream last year, along with Special Education and the Education Fast Track Initiative (EFTI).
These two programmes are significant parts of the total development of education in Guyana. Government has made a commitment to providing quality education to all through the Universal Secondary Education (USE) initiative.
The Fast Track Initiative is designed specifically for the Hinterland areas, but will include some other communities. The Ministry has been able to secure funding for the first two years of the programme.
Some areas the programme will focus on are the introduction of the new Escuela Nueva programme in schools, improved school feeding programmes, allowances for teachers serving in remote areas and the delivery of a trained certificate programme in Hinterland communities.
A number of new methodologies were also implemented, including the preparation of material for an Interactive Radio Instruction programme in mathematics and performance norms in reading.
The Minister said there was some slippage in training for teaching and reading, but this was due, to the late start of the programme.
The Minister said that despite “constraints and serious challenges” during the year 2003, it was a fair start to the implementation of the Education Strategic Plan.