New Minister of Education Priya Manickchand yesterday said that the safety and reopening of schools is of “paramount importance”.
She was speaking after being re-appointed to the position of Education Minister by President Irfaan Ali.
Just moments after the swearing-in ceremony at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Liliendaal, Manickchand told Stabroek News that while she has not yet been briefed about the plans that were proposed by the previous Education Ministry, she is well aware that the safety of schools and their reopening are most important as it is near the time for the traditional start of the new school term. “We will look at that, it is of paramount importance. So that’s the first thing we’ll be doing, and then of course making sure we honour those manifesto promises,” the Minister said.
“The Ministry of Education is a very important ministry, because we’re talking about the future of Guyana. So it always has extremely urgent things that we need to do such as curriculum reform and so on. But as you know, right now the biggest thing facing us is coronavirus. We’re what would be ordinarily three weeks away from the opening of school. We would have to look at the science and the medicine and the statistics now that we’re in office to determine whether or not we can open school. How we can open school, if we do and how we can keep our children and their parents and families and our teachers safe. So that would be our foremost concern right now,” Manickchand explained.
As it concerns the marking and fast release of the National Grade Six Assessment results, the Minister said that she has not yet been able to take a look at anything concerning the marking procedure and the pace at which it is being done. Hence, she could not yet say when these would be made available.
Up to yesterday, the public was still awaiting word about the Assessment results or any plans concerning schools being reopened. The writing of this exam was administered under the previous Education Minister, Nicolette Henry. The exam was written on July 1 and 2, over two months after the date it was initially set for. Many persons, including the current Minister of Education were not in agreement with the sitting of the exam when the number of COVID-19 cases in the country was still rising.
