Schools open on Monday via TV, radio & online classes – Education Ministry

Education Minister Priya Manickchand on Friday updated the nation on the multi-faceted approach which Government has undertaken to ensure that students are engaged to complete the respective curriculums.

On Monday, students across the country will resume classes through various mediums. This comes months after classroom activities were put on hold since March after the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The Minister informed during a press conference that following consultations, it was decided that there cannot be a single approach to facilitate classes.
As such, there will be a blended method to address challenges of epidemiological patterns, internet access, and availability of resources through the usage of radio, the internet, the learning channel and work papers. In the hinterland regions, adequate workbooks and materials will be provided where electricity and internet access are limited. Toolkits are also being procured with added textbooks to distribute to students. On Monday, the Ministry will be launching a programme to train teachers in online delivery to meet demands.
“On the Guyana Learning Channel for all the grades, there will be a scheduled timetable and that will be published. That schedule reflects what would be taught ordinarily in the classroom if kids were to return now,” she noted.
Minister Manickchand recognised that these mediums will never be able to fully replace the face-to-face classroom but was generated to minimise learning loss among children. As it relates to the tertiary institutions, the University of Guyana and Cyril Potter College of Education will also use an online modality as campuses remain closed.
“What we’re trying to do is new as you can imagine. It is never going to be able to replace face-to-face teaching and learning. But we can’t throw up our arms and do nothing. Too many of our children have gone disengaged from March to now…Studies have shown that learning loss which could result in high drop out rates and regressing and so on should be a concern to any education sector,” the new Minister posited.
She added, “While we do not know what the outcomes will be, what we hope is that we can see learning loss minimised and see any potential dropout figures rising be stabilised.”
The Ministry is currently assessing the environment of schools across the country, to look at sanitisation stations, ventilation and other important aspects of reopening which needs to be catered for during a pandemic. She noted that while the Ministry can keep students safe in a classroom environment, transportation and other issues need to be ironed out.
She signalled at diagnostic tests when the classrooms are finally reopened, to assess what has been learned and aspects of the curriculum which needs work.
Earlier this week, it was announced that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government will be reintroducing the school children’s cash grant as well as doubling the allowance for school uniform vouchers from January 2021.
This was announced by President Ali at a press conference on Monday where he announced a slew of measures to be implemented following the presentation and passage of the emergency budget for the remainder of the 2020 fiscal year.
The “Because We Care” project was launched back in 2014 by then Education Minister Priya Manickchand and was issued to parents for each child in the public school system. It was implemented with the aim of providing support to parents with school-age children and increasing their disposable income, with a view to raising enrolment and attendance rates.
However, after taking office in 2015, the A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) Government scrapped the project and displaced thousands of students and parents.
The President said that not only would the grant be restored and increased to $15,000 but also, his Administration would be doubling the allowance for uniforms. This means that the uniform voucher allowance will be $4000 per child in the public school system.
Just last month, days after taking office, Minister Manickchand said the grants are expected to provide relief for approximately 187,000 students in the system and are, therefore, expected to channel a $1.87 billion allocation.
To further expand, the President announced that $200 million has been set aside to support the expansion efforts. Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo noted that spending the $200 million would see better ways of connecting with the students. He noted that they are also thinking of the students in the hinterland who may not have access to a television. (G12)