Education Minister Priya Manickchand has clarified misinformation being spread by the APNU (A Partnership for National Unity) Opposition, which has repeatedly claimed that Guyana has a whopping 50% student dropout rate.
She addressed this on Thursday in a social media post, revealing that the Opposition is making these claims by speaking in varied accents and very loudly, solely to misinform people and make them believe their narrative.
“So the opposition keeps repeating something, they’re saying that 50% of our children drop out, which is absolutely untrue. And they say it with an accent and they say it loudly, so apparently, once you do it with an accent and loudly, it becomes the truth. That’s not true.”
Education Minister Priya Manickchand
She added, “I thought I’d let you know that because it’s very easy to hear ‘dropout, dropout, dropout,’ loudly and with accents from various people in the opposition benches and tend to believe them because it’s an emotive issue. So I wanted to clear that up for you.”
According to the minister, the opposition is misrepresenting dropout figures.
“What they’re counting as dropouts are children who can’t finish secondary school. So, let’s take Cameron for example, Cameron is in Region 7. The children of Cameron Primary write the NGSA, like our children on the coast, and then they go to a primary top at Cameron Primary, where they do secondary courses. But at Grade 9, they have nothing to do, so they just stop school. They have nowhere to go.”
She then stated that the opposition was aware of this issue when they were in office.
“So right now, the opposition knew this when they were in government, and they didn’t bother to build a single secondary school in any hinterland community so that children could access secondary education. They are now in opposition, counting those children as dropouts, which is not true. A dropout is when there’s a school available, and you don’t attend. A dropout is not someone who has no access to a secondary school.”
Meanwhile, she highlighted the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) government’s efforts to address this issue.
“But I have happy news for you. The PPPC is currently building 17 high schools in the hinterland communities—Regions 1, 7, 8, and 9—and one in Region 6. So, we’re going to have 100% of our children having access to secondary schools. In many of these places, we’re also building dormitories for students and teachers’ quarters. So, when you hear them talking about dropouts, understand that they are referring to children for whom they did not provide a single seat to stay in school.”
She added that they are changing that picture for “dropouts” for Guyana’s youths.
Amidst this intervention to provide students in hinterland regions with education, she emphasized that parents also play a crucial role.
“Now, do parents still have a role? Yes, you do. You have to make sure your children get up, eat their breakfast, and get to school. You have to ensure that happens every day. I know it can be tiring sometimes, but you also have a role to play in ensuring your children excel in the schools being provided, attend those schools, and do not leave early or prematurely from the programs they offer.”
