Minister of Education Shaik Baksh says Guyana’s education sector has been soaring above others and its success has been recognized by donors who have upped their contributions.
According to a Government Information Agency (GINA) press release Baksh told the National Assembly that his ministry has fulfilled its mandate to the satisfaction of donor agencies as they continue to offer more support. “They have been giving us not only loans, but grants. Over the last three years, we have been the beneficiary, through the Education for All-Fast Track Initiative (EFA/FTI) to the tune of $800M a year. This is the third year of that programme,” he pointed out. He then said the report on literacy trends from the International Statistical Institute of UNESCO listed Guyana as second to Barbados among Latin American and Caribbean countries.
The Minister also pointed to another report from the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean which listed Guyana as the top education provider. He added that Guyana has also excelled in its quest to meet the Millennium Development Goals for primary enrolment. The minister said too Guyana ranks the highest along with St Kitts and Nevis among Latin American and Caricom countries, in its budgetary provisions for education and its percentage of Gross Domestic Product to the sector.
“In 2008, it is 16 percent of the Budget which translates to 8 percent of GDP,” he said.
The minister said 50 primary schools in the country have between 4 and 10 computers for their learning programmes. He said too government aims to, over the next five years, furnish 50% of primary and secondary schools with modern equipment.
Meanwhile, Baksh also pointed out that Region Ten currently has more trained teachers in each school than any other area in the country. He said Guyana is not the only country experiencing teacher-migration problems, but noted government continues to offer increased benefits to teachers such as housing loans, duty-free concessions and uniform allowances.
