Despite the one-month-long strike by teachers, Chief Education Officer (CEO) Saddam Hussain has affirmed that the date for the upcoming National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) remains the same.
In providing an update on the upcoming exams and deadlines for School-Based Assessments (SBA), he expressed optimism in the abilities of the nation’s teachers to help the students to make up for lost time.
During a telephone interview yesterday with Stabroek News, Hussain said that a decision has not been made yet regarding pushing back any timelines for exams. The second NGSA mock exam, he said, is set to be held next week on Thursday and Friday. Though the date remains the same for now, he noted that the education officials are monitoring the situation.
Despite the potential learning loss during the industrial action, the CEO expressed confidence in the teachers’ ability to make up for lost time, especially for Grade Six students. He also said that the Ministry of Education (MoE) will continue to monitor the situation and ensure that curriculum coverage is completed.
“We are looking at the timelines but a decision hasn’t been taken yet, in terms of pushing back anything. So far as we are concerned, Common Entrance is on the scheduled date…,” he noted, while adding that the exams are set to take place in the first week of May.
“The Common Entrance date remains the same. Thursday and Friday [of] next week, we’ll be doing a second mock exam. We are happy that the teachers have returned and we know our teachers will make up for lost time, especially in the Grade Six,” he said.
Schools are also reminded to upload their SBAs to the superintendent of exams by the March 31 deadline. Hussain assured that the Ministry has teams in place to monitor the submission of SBAs and provide assistance where needed.
“We have several teams around the country monitoring the SBAs [these] start in Form Four so really and truly now it’s just to neaten it up and make it nice for submission… [So] we are on track. There might be one or two schools where help would have to be provided and so we are happy to help therein getting some of it marked and so on. But at this point, we are very, very optimistic in terms of exams and SBAs and so forth,” the CEO explained.
He also expressed his hope that the status quo would remain so that “our optimism does not become pessimism”.
Further, the CEO commended the dedication and professionalism of teachers, stating that they are the greatest practitioners in the country and are capable of preparing students for exams. He also reassured that the Department of Education stands ready to provide additional assistance if necessary.
“Teachers in this country are the greatest professionals that we have… we are the greatest practitioners there are and teachers are going to rally their students and they’re going to have them ready for those exams. I will bet my last dollar on that. We may have cases where we have to provide additional assistance, and the Ministry of Education and the Department of Education will be very happy to do so. We are monitoring… our monitoring as well revealed that… things are moving in a nice way,” Hussain concluded.
Teachers, guided by the Guyana Teachers’ Union (GTU) took to the streets and remained for what was initially a 10-day industrial action that turned into a month-long strike. Their struggle for better wages and for the government to meet the union for collective bargaining talks fell on deaf ears, leading to the court imposing mediation between the two sides.
The result of the two-day meeting was the government and the union finally agreeing to have meetings with financial matters being part of the agenda. They met on Thursday and are to do so again on Tuesday.
