When Minister of Education Dr Rupert Roopnaraine stood to address the first public consultation for the Commission of Inquiry (CoI) into the education system on Friday, he was addressing a gathering of less than 30 persons.
About 20 minutes later, when the minister took his seat, the number of attendees had risen to 32. Despite the poor showing from the public, those who were present seemed enthusiastic to participate in the process, which Roopnaraine said will establish a baseline from which the education system will move into the future.
“Nothing is more important that getting the education system right,” Roopnaraine emphasised during his presentation, while stressing that the CoI is part of an effort to reconfigure and refresh the Education Sector Strategic Plan using a scientific, evidence-based approach.
The four-month-long inquiry, which will review the functioning of the education system between September, 2010 and July, 2014, is being chaired by former Chief Education Officer Ed Caesar. Other members of the commission who were present at the St Stanislaus College for the consultation were Ingrid Trotman, Marcelle Hutson, Leslyn Charles, Ramesh Persaud, Vibert Hart, Ronald Austin Jr and Secretary Kellyann Hercules.
Among the more traditional concerns of poor infrastructure, inadequate supply of education materials and absence of support systems for overworked teachers, the inquiry also heard of how the failure to implement any significant wage increases for teachers has alienated men from the profession.
The minister was also repeatedly urged to visit schools so that he could gain first hand knowledge of the challenge being faced by both students and teachers.
While the majority of the contributors spoke of the challenges they have observed or faced as part of the system, it was Anthony Willis, of Innovative Consultancy, who presented the commission with a proposed solution.
Willis told those gathered that his group has for six years been implementing a multimedia programme developed to assist students in the comprehension of the core subjects of Math and English.
“Our research has shown us that to succeed our students must grasp literacy, numeracy as well as be technologically literate,” he told the gathering. He added that right now there are several students across Guyana, including in the hinterland areas where traditional tuition is not available, who are using the software as a means to prepare for the Caribbean Examination Council Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations.
Caesar invited Willis to make a presentation to the entire commission during the new week so that a clear analysis of the software could be done.
