$500M to fund safety measures, equip schools for e-learning

Making it clear that his Government’s goal is to prepare the nation’s schools for reopening while keeping teachers and students safe from COVID-19, President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that $500 million will be earmarked to equip schools for e-learning among other measures.

He made this announcement on Wednesday during an address to the nation. According to the President, Education Minister Priya Manickchand has held consultations with numerous stakeholders and while schools would not be opening in September, they will work to get schools ready for physical classes as quickly as possible. He expressed worry that non-traditional learning methods will not reach all children.
“I’m deeply concerned and recognise that our children are not being academically engaged in the traditional ways since March. We are particularly concerned about the impact of non-traditional school structures and also the unavailability of resources and infrastructure for our children especially in the hinterland, our children with disabilities and our children who don’t have access to data or internet.”

After consultations with stakeholders, President Ali noted, it was decided that schools were not in a position from a public health, infrastructure and facilities standpoint to facilitate a reopening in September, adding that the ultimate goal is to have schools in a state of readiness at the earliest.
According to him, Minister Manickchand has been tasked with formulating a plan to map out how to deliver education in the COVID-19 environment.
“I’ve directed Minister Manickchand to develop a plan to address the delivery of education to our children, in a COVID-19 environment. The Minister has been asked to develop a comprehensive plan aimed at ensuring that parents and teachers remain engaged in learning. We will make available $500 million to equip schools and provide facilities for teachers.”
“In the interim, the Ministry has been tasked to put infrastructure in place to deliver the curriculum via the learning channel, State radio broadcasting and privately-owned media houses,” President Ali also informed.
Minister Manickchand had recently announced that schools will remain closed in September as a result of the continued rise in the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) numbers in Guyana. This is even as Guyana has recorded 776 cases of COVID-19 as of August 19.
She had said that the decision was made following widespread consultations with stakeholders on the delivery of the curriculum for the Christmas Term amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She had pointed out that since schools were closed in March 2020, students have not been academically engaged in a structured manner. Taking all the factors into consideration, Minister Manickchand announced that the Government cannot reopen schools. “There was little or no decisive and/or coordinated approach in delivering education and doing so safely…Actions that were needed in the months schools were closed were not taken in their entirety or at all. This is our reality. We, therefore, cannot reopen schools on September 7, 2020, as was previously scheduled,” the Education Minister announced.
She had also explained that in order for schools to be reopened, there need to be enough masks for both students and teachers, hand-washing facilities, and facilities to practice social distancing – which would come from a mass educational campaign. (G3)