Students cannot be charged for extra lessons in schools - Manickchand
March 5, 2015 | By KNews | Filed Under News, Source
“What we have said very clearly, is that if teachers want to do extra tuition, they can—so the schools are opened for extra tuition, but the teachers cannot charge for it in the school and you cannot run a private business of lessons in a school.”- Manickchand
Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand says that the Ministry of Education (MoE) had put a stop to extra lessons being offered in schools because it was being abused. During an interview recently in Berbice and while addressing the issue of extra lessons, she said that while teachers can indeed hold extra lessons in the school building, they cannot charge students.
Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand
“What we have said very clearly is that if teachers want to give extra tuition, they can—so the schools are opened for extra tuition, but the teachers cannot charge for it in the school; you cannot run a private business of lessons in a school.”
Manickchand added that once the instructional hours are used in school to offer instruction, children will learn and there is very little need for lessons.
“I know lots of parents think that having their children go for lessons, will actually make them brighter and do better, and that there is value to extra tuition…but I truly feel that they have started too early—I’ve heard Grade Two students going to lessons, which is beyond my comprehension.”
She recalled the time when teachers used to give private lessons at the school, “and parents complained that what teachers were doing—well not all teachers—that the teachers were not teaching in the class and keeping the children back, and charging them for lessons.”
Manickchand underscored the importance of parental involvement in the education process of their children. “I am pleading with parents—we would do what we have to do, I promise you that—but you have a role to play, too, as parents.”
Speaking about Universal Education, she said that while Guyana has achieved 90 per cent universal secondary education access, Berbice has achieved 100 per cent universal secondary education.
“We are going to have universal secondary education, once we are elected and during the next term in office,” she asserted. The Minister revealed that three brand new agreements were just signed for the construction of new secondary schools in La Parfaite Harmonie, to accommodate 1,000 children; one along Lusignan, and another the East Bank Demerara.
She noted that not only did the government build additional schools, but transportation to and from schools had to be catered for as well. Boats and housing for students, in the form of dormitories, had to be constructed for students coming out of riverain communities, like Orealla.
In 2005, she noted that just under 50 per cent of teachers were trained in the primary schools, whereas today it is over 75 per cent. Also, 58 per cent of secondary school teachers were trained in 2005, whereas today it is over 67 per cent.
“If you have a trained teacher in front of the classroom, it is more than likely your child will have a more sound and solid education.”
“The whole sector has massively improved, but it did not happen by magic,” she added. “It happened first because we (the government) had an ideology and a political will to make it happen and we funded that will—and we have seen how that consistent funding and investment in education, has produced results over the years.”
In the secondary schools, in 2005, she said there were 32,000 in general secondary. In 2014, there were 68,000 students enrolled across the general secondary schools. There is still a two per cent dropout rate, she noted, which needs to change. “But we have moved from 11 per cent to just two per cent—it’s a remarkable gain across the (education) sector.”
Manickchand noted that the curriculum too, has been changed to ensure equity and more variety of education, in that more than 50 of the 110 secondary schools actively pursuing the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP). This would allow students pursuing that programme to have a certificate upon completion, which is accredited for jobs across the Caribbean.
The Minister boasted about how Guyana was able to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to ensure that every primary school child receives universal access to education. “In our little Guyana—every single child can have access to primary education, whether you live here in Berbice, Corentyne, Lethem, Crabwood Creek, Suddie, Pomeroon—wherever you are.”
