Education Minister Priya Manickchand has begun consulting with stakeholders to expand the Operation Recovery programme, which is geared at lowering absenteeism and getting students back into schools.
File photo: Education Ministry officials visiting the home of a family whose child has continuously been absent from school
The Minister met with civil society organisations on Wednesday evening at the Pegasus Hotel, ahead of the school reopening that is set for April 25. Involved in these discussions were Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson as they met with members of the Rotary Club of Demerara.
Operation Recovery was launched initially within the 11 Education districts to find those primary school students who have been continuously absent from school since school re-started and those who have missed the recent National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) mock examinations. The programme would now focus on students at all levels who continue to be absent from the classroom.
At the meeting, Minister Manickchand told those in attendance that this programme has wide-reaching implications. It was explained that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the education sector in two fundamental ways: loss of instructional time and learning loss due to schools being closed for over 18 months. She said that, recognising the need to mitigate the long-term effects of school closure, the Ministry has implemented a system of phased reopening.
An analysis of learners’ attendance data revealed that some learners did not attend school as required. Operation Recovery aims to get pupils back into school, and the objectives of the programme are to locate and retain learners, as well as to engage and support them.
Minister Manickchand added that the Ministry would also be reaching out to other civil society organisations and religious bodies to come on board to ensure our children receive the education they rightly deserve.
This month’s reopening comes more than two years after the COVID pandemic struck, forcing a closure to reduce an infection spread. Now, when school reopens after the Easter holiday break, all students would be returning to a classroom setting.
Leading up to the reopening, Operation Recovery was piloted to address absenteeism and get students back into classrooms. Dubbing it a successful mechanism, the Education Minister outlined that it would be a continuous mechanism.
Through encounters with students, it has been learnt that the reasons for absenteeism range from poverty to ‘carelessness’. The Education Ministry has underscored that urgent, practical, sustained measures such as teaching and learning from a consolidated curriculum; the provision of textbooks; re-training of teachers; using technology in the classroom; and Operation Recovery would mitigate against the predicted loss to our students and country. (G12)
