The Ministry of Education (MoE) yesterday announced that schools will close on December 18 to facilitate students’ Christmas holidays.
The memorandum put out by the MoE informed that schools will be closed from December 18 to allow students their Christmas break before they return to schools for the Easter term on January 4. It stated, “The Ministry of Education wishes to remind all education officials of the decision made with reference to the closure and reopening of schools in Guyana,” and was signed by Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson.
The notification comes days after Education Minister Priya Manickchand had disclosed that more than 2,000 students have not turned out to school since the reopening for grades 10, 11, and 12. She mentioned this fact while delivering remarks on Saturday at the ‘Celebration Day’ event hosted by the First Assembly of God Wortmanville Church in Georgetown.
Manickchand had said that the reasons for absenteeism range from not having uniforms and supplies to entering the workforce to not having transportation money and fear of the pandemic.
However, according to a release from the Ministry, Manickchand said that she will be engaging churches, temples, masjids, and other religious bodies and organisations to assist the state in determining where the students are and how they can be supported in their efforts to complete their secondary education or access technical vocational education.
Previously she had said that the reopening of school was an attempt to amend the learning loss caused by the premature school closure which was triggered by the novel coronavirus pandemic. Schools were reopened in September via a blended approach and physical classes were resumed on November 9th for senior level students.
