The Education Ministry has collaborated with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to host a one-week Policy Formulation Workshop to draft the Education Sector Plan for 2019-2023.
A section of the gathering at the workshop on Monday
The workshop which began on Monday is being held at the Herdmanston Lodge and has drawn participants from across the education sector and the country.
According to Education Minister Nicolette Henry, the MoE is committed to increasing students’ achievements through an efficient education system
While delivering her brief remarks, the Minister informed the gathering that “through this process of developing the new Education Sector Plan the priority of the Ministry is to ensure better alignment between policy formulation and implementation along the entire education value chain”.
Additionally, Henry is quoted by an Education Ministry release as saying that she believes that meticulous planning within the timelines stipulated is essential to the transformation and improvement of the education sector.
Further, the Education Minister noted that as the Education Sector Plan is formulated it is important that officers set clear targets that will be achieved in terms of quality, equity and access and the need to continuously monitor and adjust their plans in order to achieve the objectives.
Minister Henry added that “in order for our students to stand a chance to compete globally, Guyana’s education system must develop young Guyanese who are knowledgeable, think critically, are creative, have leadership skills and are able to compete with the rest of the world.”
According to the Minister, another area that is on her radar is the reduction of the disparity in the performance between different groups of students, in particular between coastal and hinterland students and those students who have special education needs.
She said that to deliver on these fundamental transformations, a shift and enlargement of focus is required. Towards this end, technology-enabled learning is an area that the MoE will be placing greater focus. “We need to examine as objectively as possible what strategies have worked well and which strategies need to be changed or adjusted as we move into this new plan period”.
UNICEF Representative, Sylvie Fouet said that the exercise is not a one-stop approach, but she sees it as a journey that will take Guyana places in the sphere of education.
The five-day workshop includes the Regional Education Officers (REOs) and other senior education officials.
