2024 records highest number of NGSA students since Covid – Manickchand

As education systems around the world still reel from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Guyana’s Education Ministry has achieved a new milestone by recording the highest number of children writing the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) since 2020.
This was revealed by Education Minister Priya Manickchand during a social media post on Friday. According to the minister, only a minor percentage of absentees has been recorded for the examinations.
“Since Covid-19, this is the best we have seen in terms of turnout…with 95 per cent of our attendance registered and a three per cent absentee rate,” the minister underscored.

Declaring that the three per cent absentees is still regarded as a high percentage for the ministry, she revealed that work is ongoing to reduce this amount, as the ministry expects to reconcile the numbers for absent pupils.
“This is too high, as even (one) per cent would be too high for the ministry as well, and we will reconcile that number. When I say reconcile, I mean that if a child was going to St. Pius but left without informing the ministry to go to a private school, and registered there and did the exams, they would be regarded as a walk-in, but at St Pius an absentee. So, when they reconcile the numbers, they expect to see a decrease,” Manickchand explained.
Meanwhile, she expressed that beside the success of this massive turnout, there was also the grand success of meals’ distribution over the course of the two days.
“We delivered over 49,500 meals over the course of Thursday and Friday: breakfast, lunch, and hot meals across the hinterlands and across the country,” the minister has said.
Minister Manickchand is encouraging children to explore various activities while they await the results of these examinations. She is encouraging them to learn a new language, become fitter, and read books, as the vacation period would be four months.
A total of 15,488 pupils wrote this year’s NGSA on May 2 and 3. The pupils were tested in English Language, Mathematics, Social Studies and Science. The NGSA results will be available on or before July 5. Minister Manickchand has expressed that the students’ curriculum has been consolidated to test up to a Grade 5 level. These students are the fourth batch to have done the National Grade Five Diagnostic Assessment thus far. (G2)