The Guyana Table Tennis Association (GTTA), in partnership with the Ministry of Education, officially launched its Nationwide Schools Championship yesterday at the auditorium of the National Centre for Education Resource Development, Battery Road, Kingston. The event, which is also being supported by the Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sport and is slated to commence this month, is being sponsored by CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited (CPGL) to the tune of $4,000,000. It will encompass zonal tournaments in the categories of boys and girls teams, singles and novices, in Regions #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #10, and Georgetown, with novice-level events being conducted primarily in the Hinterland Regions [#1, #8, and #9] to foster development in those environs. The resulting winners in each section will advance to the pinnacle of the programme, which is the National Championship segment, in February 2024.
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand, during the feature address, affirmed the importance of the initiative, which builds on the Ministry’s efforts in introducing and exposing students to the rigours of sports before their departure from the secondary school ecosystem, as a means to create rounded athletes.