Projecting that it will achieve universal secondary education before the term of the present administration ends in 2016, the Ministry of Education is also working to improve pass rates in Mathematics and English and to this end has hired two Math specialists.
Outlining plans for 2014 at her end-of-year press conference on Monday, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said too that improvements would be made in the quality of education provided in hinterland areas and to special needs children.
Attempts to improve the secondary level pass rates in Mathematics and English have been engaging the attention of the ministry and the minister revealed that two Mathematics specialists have been secured. One will function as a senior education officer in the secondary sector and the other at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD). Moreover, Manickchand said, the ministry is looking to collaborate with the World Bank to introduce some new measures to make learning Mathematics more accessible and interesting.
Meanwhile, the ministry is looking to have an amendment to the Education Act passed in Parliament early this year. It hopes, before the end of the first quarter, to impose the regulations of the National Accreditation Council, which will inform persons locally and internationally, what would be needed for them to be accredited as institutions (whether offshore schools or other institutions in the country).
Manickchand said the ministry’s goal is to ensure that all students across the country of secondary school age, can access a general secondary education (five years of secondary curriculum). However, for this to be fully realised, she said, the ministry has to do more work in Regions one, seven, eight and nine.
The minister said resources will be provided for teachers who have to go into the hinterland to teach.
According to Manickchand, who cited Region One, some of the areas do not need new buildings, rather what they need are new transportation modes for children to get to schools. “We are working… on achieving this,” Manickchand said asserting that she would be pleased to make such an announcement.
Furthermore, special needs education will receive more focused attention. The minister revealed that consultations had been held across the country to ascertain what was needed for special needs children to receive quality education that would allow them to be, in her opinion, the best adults they can grow into. A report on the consultations which would include the findings, what needs to be done, what it will cost and the timeline to accomplish the plan, is being drafted, she said. “We are sure that this is a population that we can serve and we truly believe that we will be measured not by how we serve the masses but by how we serve the most vulnerable among us,” Manickchand added.
Another objective for 2014, is the provision of all furniture needed by schools at all levels – nursery, primary and secondary – and the minister said this will include hinterland schools, both classrooms and dormitories.
Meanwhile, the ministry is in the process of consulting stakeholders across the country on its new five-year strategic plan, which is scheduled to be released by the end of January.
