President reiterates commitment to free education

President David Granger on Sunday reiterated his commitment to restoring free education in Guyana.
The Head of State, who was accompanied by First Lady Sandra Granger, attended the Bicentenary Anniversary celebration of the Mission Chapel Congregational Church, New Amsterdam, East Berbice-Corentyne.

President Granger, in his address, told congregants that the church occupies an “exalted position of reverence in Guyanese history” noting that it played a phenomenal role in pioneering Christianity and community development at the dawn of Guyanese nationhood.
He said the church holds a central place in the history of Christianity and education in Guyana. “This church was established as a ‘mother church’ for the expansion of congregationalism in Berbice. The church was in the forefront of the congregationalists’ efforts to provide religious teaching and general education to the population and, particularly, the non-European population of Berbice,” the President is quoted as saying by the Public Information and Press Services Unit of the Ministry of the Presidency.
Guyana, the Head of State said, owes an immeasurable debt of gratitude to the congregational churches for pioneering education in the villages of this country. “Their exertions prepared Africans for Emancipation in 1838…Their efforts laid the foundation
for the expansion of universal public, primary education, which we all enjoy in our country today.”
As such, President Granger said “no Guyanese child needs to pay for primary education because of the foundation created. As I said in Union Village (Number 53 Village Corentyne on August 1, 2019), in anticipation of revenues from our petroleum industry, education will be free not only at the primary level, or secondary level but also at the tertiary level.”
Mission Chapel Congregational Church was designated a historic monument by the Government of Guyana in 1966. There are thirty-three churches and missions across the country.