“Operation Recovery” – Bringing our students back into the classroom

The Education Ministry has launched ‘Operation Recovery’ within the 11 Education Districts. The intention is 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.

Operation Recovery would see Education Officers from the Central Ministry and within the Education Districts working along with Regional Officials and community activists as they fan out into communities to locate those pupils.

The exercise aims to ascertain the location of the students and the reasons behind their absenteeism, so that a determination could be made about how the Ministry could assist those students to return to school.
The scientific data gathered from countries around the world in numerous studies by various organisations continue to show that the long school closures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic would lead to an increased rate of school dropouts and tremendous learning loss, unless countries take urgent practical measures to mitigate against same. This loss would not only affect the academic attainment of young people, but ultimately their economic and social development as they become adults.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has said that this generation of children and youth cannot afford any more disruptions to their education, and predict that unless practical measures are taken urgently, this generation could lose more than 17 trillion dollars in earnings in their lifetime, have their academic growth stunted, and have their mental health severely affected.
The Ministry of Education remains committed to keeping school doors open and having as many of our pupils back in school, and where students failed to come to school, to determine what needs they may have, and to attempt to meet those needs.
The Ministry believes firmly 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.
The Ministry warns that any individual or organisation which promotes the closure of schools or discourages parents from sending their children to school is doing harm to Guyana’s children and our country as a whole, and encourages all stakeholders to be responsible during this time, and to lend their support to this effort so that we can reach every pupil and give them the education they rightfully deserve.