Each child to undertake sports, music, foreign languages – Min Manickchand

Sweeping changes are to be made to the education system in Guyana in order to produce well-rounded students, Education Minister Priya Manickchand has announced.
Speaking during a recent event, the Minister stated that the efforts have been set in motion to ensure that every child in the secondary school system is exposed to at least one foreign language, a musical instrument, a sport, and a Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) subject.

This will not be limited to national schools or those on the coastland, but every school in the country. By doing this, she explained that they are catering to the needs and interests of the new generation.
Minister Manickchand disclosed, “It’s not going to be just the traditional academic subjects. We’re trying to make sure that we cater to the different needs of the country and the different interests that children have. So, we are tweaking our own offerings.”
“All of the high schools across our country, we’re going to insist that each child participates in at least one sport, one musical instrument, one foreign language, a TVET subject and leave with a strong sense of volunteerism.”
The Ministry is endeavouring to apply this policy in the near future. This means authorities will have to scout the schools to determine what activities can be accommodated based on available facilities. For example, large outdoor areas will be needed for certain sports.
“These are not services that we are limiting to the Georgetown schools or the national schools. Whichever school you got, our commitment to you is that the service will be the same and our monitoring from the Education Departments in the country will apply to effectively make sure all those services reach you,” Manickchand added.
Added to this is the rollout of a new literacy programme across the education system from the new academic year. This has been introduced in order to prevent school dropout and cultivate stronger academic performance, having noticed that literacy is integrally linked to a child’s educational advancement.
“The literacy programme that is going to be nationally applied across all levels – nursery, primary and secondary – will start in September. We believe that once we’re able to change the way children read and comprehend, we are going to be able to change whether they want to stay in school, and how they perform.”