Universal secondary education is expected to be a reality in Guyana in another three years according to Chief Education Officer (CEdO) Olato Sam, who however admitted that the Ministry of Education would at no time be able to say that every child was enrolled in a secondary school owing to what he described as the country’s “geographical reality.”
“It is our hope that in the next two years…worst case scenario three years, we would get there [universal secondary education],” Sam told the Sunday Stabroek in an exclusive interview recently.
But he emphasised that in some of the hinterland areas there are what he described as some social realities that work against children being in secondary school, because even though spaces may be available in the dormitories, some factors lead parents not to send their children to dorm schools.
“…But I think we would be in a very good place with regards to our percentage, a very high percentage of that cohort would absolutely be able to be accommodated,” the CEdO said.
He said too that achieving universal primary education had been much easier while at the secondary level far more resources are needed.
For this feat to be achieved Sam explained that in some areas it might mean building new schools while in others it might involve the acquisition of boats or buses. All of this, he said, is clearly spelt out in the ministry’s strategic plan with which it has been working over the last few years.
Three new secondary schools would soon be built, one at Parfait Harmonie, another at Good Hope and the third at Yarrowkabra which would address the increased population in those areas.
Primary tops which still exist would be amalgamated and converted to secondary schools, Sam explained. And those senior secondary schools which still have sixth forms would retain them.
According to Sam the ministry would ensure that all the regions get attention systematically even though they are aware that some of the schools might not have an ideal environment.
“So it is not just ensuring that there is a seat for a student; we are also working towards improving the actual physical structure of some of the institutions, and so we are very keen on identifying, hopefully in the not too distant future, a new secondary institution that could possibly address the needs of Brickdam Secondary and Central High school that are doing amazingly, but we are fully aware that they are not in ideal educational settings,” the CEdO said.
And because the ministry does not have all of the resources to do everything immediately it is adopting a phased approach to this programme. A plan has been developed and government is aware of what is needed to achieve this, Sam said, adding that the ministry has been in constant discussion about how it is going to be done. He added that funding would not be a prohibitive element but rather it would be a question of how it is rolled out.
Specialist teachers
Asked about specialist teachers for secondary schools as there has been a chronic shortage for some years, Sam said that the ministry is happy with what is happening at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) which is going through a process of retooling the entire institution; it is building capacity of which secondary education is a key component. He said the ministry is constantly engaged in increasing the numbers of teachers for underserved subject areas such as English, Mathematics, the technical-vocational areas and Science.
“We are actively pursuing teachers in those areas,” he emphasized, while disclosing that Minister of Education Priya Manickchand would soon unveil a plan to attract more science teachers.
He described the soon to be unveiled plan as one that is innovative and which the ministry believes would “really work.”
And while students are required to remain in school at least up to the age of 16, Sam said acknowledged that not all of them do, but that the ministry is aware of some of the issues that drive children out and is actively tracking those. Nevertheless, he said that currently the largest number of students ever is being retained in the school system right up to Grade 11.
“It is certainly a phenomenon to really examine and try to expand on because I think our children are really seeing the value of remaining, because they are seeing some viable options that are available to them,” he said.
Streaming
Meantime, Sam said notwithstanding universal secondary education, streaming would remain for the foreseeable future even though ideally children should be placed in the school within whose catchment area they fall. A lot of work has been done to get the message across that it is better for children to attend school in their area, but this had to be matched with tangible interventions to improve the quality of education at those institutions.
According to the CEdO it is hoped that as the ministry continues to improve the quality of education that every region would have a viable option for students, and that many students who had gained places at the senior secondary schools are now opting to remain in their regions.
The reality is, however, that there are schools such as Queen’s College and Bishops’ High School and some others that “provide an excellent level of education, and there would continue to be great demands for those institutions to continue the work that they are doing.” However, Sam said some other schools continue to perform well and there is a narrowing of the gap in the top tier of schools.
Asked to confirm that the best teachers go to the top schools and as such parents believe when their children are sent to certain schools they are being short changed, Sam responded that the evidence is there to prove that more and more schools are doing better at the CSEC examinations, noting that the matriculation rate is the most important issue for the ministry.
He said once the ministry is able to have a more equitable spread across the schools then the clamour to go to Queen’s College and other senior schools would be reduced, as parents would be assured that their children could receive a good education at the school in their area.
“We are not fully there but I can give you clear evidence of that rolling out process of improvement…” he said.
Further probed on the issue of the better teachers going to higher schools, the CEdO said that he is not convinced that there is any plan to channel teachers to certain schools.
“…there is no plan that says ‘you are the best student at CPCE so we would send you to Queen’s College’ – unheard of, it doesn’t exist,” Sam insisted, adding that there is more to the issue than just the teacher element.
Responding to a question Sam declared that the teachers in the lower school are in no way less competent to improve the output of students than teachers at other schools; he preferred to say “in every school you are going to have an interesting mix.”
“Do some of our board schools attract better teachers? I think in all fairness and honesty yes, there is some of that pulling and tugging just to ensure that your standards are maintained; I get that,” he later conceded.
While there is no plan to channel teachers to certain schools, the ministry does send children to certain schools based on their performance at the Grade Six Assessment in particular.
Adopting schools
And the CEO said he wants to ensure that children going to certain schools are still guaranteed a quality education, hence he has adopted three schools and has encouraged other officers to work closely with particular schools. One of the schools he has adopted is Lodge Secondary School, and Sam said that at one time the ministry was considering discontinuing that school and moving another school that is doing well into the structure as the facilities are very appealing. This was looked at because of the poor attendance at the school, but he said they moved in and improved the programmes, examined the teaching staff and did some more work.
“We have raised teacher morale, we have addressed some of the major behavioural issues, we have put in a number of enrichment programmes, and there is a strong performance in arts that has been added…” Sam said, while remarking that the children at Lodge are right now assured of a quality education.
What presently exists is very different from the Lodge one might have known a few years ago, and for Sam the school is a prime example that changes can be made and children can get a quality education. He admitted, however, that to do this at these schools the approach would have to be different, as while independent learners are found at the senior schools this is not so in schools such as Lodge, as there would be a group of young people who might not have a solid foundation at the primary level.
“So that has to be taken into consideration, and I am not sure that those schools are devising the necessary approaches to treat with the true needs of the cohorts they have…and we are working to address this,” he said, adding that the schools may have been caught up in trying to have their students graduate with large numbers of CSEC passes.
Functional illiteracy
And for those children who may be functionally illiterate at the school level, Sam said there are schools with the six-year programme in place, which sees the first year of the students’ secondary life focus on remedial classes. But he said it was never intended for the six-year programme to become a permanent feature, but rather it is conceived as a stop gap measure until the reform measures adopted at the lower level are developed.
He hopes that the programme is stopped in another two years or limited drastically, because by that time they would have addressed the core elements at the lower levels.
“It has to be our primary objective, that a better child exits at our primary level and I can’t say that there is anything that bothers more in our education system than our ability to really deal with that element, and a lot of my energy would be specially focused on that.”
He explained too that schools do not remain six-year schools, but rather it was a matter of their performance and also the number of children in a catchment area who needed remedial classes.
Automatic promotion
Meanwhile, although the ministry had announced a while ago that the automatic promotion decision would be reversed, Sam said that it is still part of the school system, and English and Mathematics are the only two subjects that would cause a child to repeat. He disclosed that the ministry was forced to pause on stopping the practice, because parents were not properly sensitized to the fact that it was being reversed. He said parents expressed concerns which came as a surprise, as that was not the message sounded during the public consultation on the programme. Secondly, he said there were some procedural elements at the level of the schools and there was still widespread discord in terms of the teachers’ interpretation of how it was going to be done. More discussions are being held on the issue so a clear position could be arrived at.
Sam still supports automatic promotion, as he said that when the ministry introduced it, there was sound justification for it, and it was being done in the best interest of the children.
“I still feel that it is worthy to note that many of our young people that might have been frustrated and dropped out are in school, and although they might not be getting the passes in Mathematics and Science maybe, they are writing CSEC and are passing other subjects,” Sam said.
He said the ministry now has to try to address the weaknesses that those children might have so that they could be more successful. Sam said he does not want to return to the era where some young children, especially the boys, are leaving school at an early age.
