The Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) yesterday launched its new Education Savings Plan and Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine urged other banks to follow suit, while saying education is the most instrumental sector in development.
With the new savings plan, parents or guardians will be able to set up a plan for their children with the minimum target being $2 million and the maximum target being $15 million. Once a target is set, a financial calculator is used to determine how much money will be needed to be deposited every month or quarterly and which would attract an interest of 5%.
Speaking at the launch, Roopnaraine lauded the bank’s innovation and highlighted that it is time that we move from “scrimping and saving” and towards a more evolved method of strategic investment. While referring to the University of Guyana’s newly-graduated valedictorian Sachin Ramsuran, who came from a humble home where sacrifices were made by his parents so that he could obtain a tertiary education, Roopnaraine said it is time that strategic investments are used.
“It is within this context that I applaud the GBTI Education Savings Plan and congratulate the bank on the bold step of putting this innovative programme together,” he said, while adding that it is a direct contribution towards the development of the human resources and encouraging every other bank to do the same.
Roopnaraine also used the opportunity to highlight the importance of education and the scrutiny that he has been receiving for some of the decisions he has made so far.
“I want to say that education is the priority area for government investment today in Guyana and would be even more so over the next five years,” he said, while referencing the over $33 billion that was budgeted for the education sector this year. He said that while education is number four in the global Sustainable Development Goals, he thinks that if education does not work then nothing else will work.
Roopnaraine highlighted the efforts he has been making in trying to strengthen the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) throughout the country. He said he is looking into the idea of building a special secretariat within the Ministry of Education for PTAs.
While Roopnaraine said he did not want to be uncharitable to the previous government and his predecessor, the educational system was left in shambles. “We have a duty to pick it up and get it to work,” he stated, while pointing out it is a big challenge but one that needs to be undertaken, especially when it comes to teachers and the physical infrastructure of schools. “As I listened to the music this afternoon, I become more and more convinced that I was right saying the first thing I wanted to ensure was to put music back into schools,” Roopnaraine said, while noting a performance by a local music group that serenaded the crowd that gathered. He said that while he is aware that it is not possible to “put a steel orchestra in every school,” he noticed that every child is born with a musical instrument and as a result he believes that school choirs should be rejuvenated. “Let the children start to sing,” he proclaimed, while pointing out that he is working towards holding a senior school choir competition, with the finals coinciding with the 50th independence commemoration activities next May.
Roopnaraine said too that he advocating for physical education to become more prominent in schools and in working towards bringing down the extra lessons industry. “I think the extra lessons industry shows a failure of us delivering what we should have in the classrooms. The teachers, as underpaid as they are, have to go and spend time outside of the school, teaching from their bottom houses what they should be teaching in their classrooms,” he said, while noting that the only way to bring the extra lessons industry down is by improving the delivery of education in the classrooms.
Roopnaraine said that regardless of what others have been saying about his removal of the weighting of the Grade 2 and Grade 4 assessments, he did it simply because he believes that children should enjoy their childhood. He said they cannot have a proper childhood if they are stressing over examinations. “I became more resolute about this when I discovered that there were four-year-old children who were taking extra lessons,” he said, while declaring that it was an abomination. “Children should come out of school with a rounded education and as rounded 21st century citizens,” he added.
He also highlighted the issue of corporal punishment, which he said has gotten him into conflicts with the teachers’ union but he is resolute about it also. “I think beating children has no place in our schools and when you have to whip a child, it’s because you have failed and not because the child has failed,” he explained, while stating that instead of corporal punishment the counselling capacity in schools should be strengthened to deal with indiscipline in a civilized way.
Roopnaraine also lauded the initiative of the Samsung Company in its implementation of its ‘Smart School’ Information and Communications Technology (ICT) project at the North Ruimveldt Secondary School. He said that the programme will pave the way to the future as we need to move from “chalk and talk” towards ICT.
Chairman of the Board of Directors for GBTI Robin Stoby also made remarks about the importance of education in developing the country and emphasised the bank’s commitment in doing so.
