Minister Manickchand engages senior education officials
New Education Minister Priya Manickchand has hit the ground running. On Thursday, her first official day at work, the Minister met with senior staff of the Education Ministry to outline her vision for the development of the education sector.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand during the meeting with senior officials
According to the Education Ministry’s Public Relations Department, Minister Manickchand had discussions with the Permanent Secretary (PS) Alfred King; the Deputy Permanent Secretaries for Finance and Administration; the Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD); the Superintendent of Examinations, the Chief Planning Officer, the Head of the Buildings Unit and other senior education officials.
After taking the oath of office at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre on Wednesday, Manickchand said her top priority would be to consider the safe reopening of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to balance children’s right to be educated with our duty to make sure we protect the people we’ve sworn to serve,” Manickchand told media operatives.
Manickchand explained that she would examine best practices around the world regarding the reopening of schools amid the pandemic to determine what solution would be best for Guyana.
She noted that the task was not going to be easy but she is committed to working hard to ensure children’s education was not in jeopardy.
Schools have been closed in Guyana since March on account of the pandemic. However, schools had briefly opened to facilitate key exams for primary and secondary pupils.
Manickchand had served as Education Minister under the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration before it lost power in 2015.
