Laptop computers given to top one percent of the students who passed the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA)

President presents laptop to Top NGSA Student(1)Georgetown: Today at a simple ceremony held at the Theater Guild, His Excellency, President Donald Ramotar, along with the Ministry of Education, presented one laptop computer to each of the students who placed in the top one percent in this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations held in March.

The top one percent amounted to one hundred and seventy-three students from all over Guyana.

In underscoring his government’s unwavering commitment for education and the development of Guyana’s human capital, President Ramotar said: “We need to ensure that we have equal opportunities for everyone…I do not know of a better way of providing equal opportunities for everyone,  than providing equal quality education for everyone in this country.”

The president further pointed out that education has the potential to alleviate poverty and to provide a better quality of life. He urged the children gathered to take advantage of the opportunities being offered now by his government as it works relentlessly to provide the best education possible for Guyanese children.

Also delivering remarks at this event was the Honorable Minister of Education, Ms. Priya Manickchand. She reaffirmed her government’s commitment to continuous development of the education sector to ensure that all Guyanese children have access to high-quality education. “Education in Guyana is extremely important. It is the priority item of the government,” she said. “This sector is treated very specially in the sense that many of our needs are met and many of the resources we ask for are granted.”

Even while celebrating the achievement of the children present, the minister was keen to point out that much work still has to be done to achieve a higher level of quality education in Guyana. She urged the students gathered to make full use of the opportunities and tools being provided by the ministry and to strive to be better students and to ultimately work to make Guyana a better place.

The minister also alluded to Guyana’s proud achievement of achieving one of the critical millennium goals of providing universal primary education to the children of Guyana. “I am very pleased to tell you that in Guyana every child that is in the primary age cohort can attend a primary school. This is a very proud achievement for our nation,” the minister said. 

Over the last two decades, the government has made big efforts to invest significantly in education. It recognizes the strategic role of education as something that must be given priority in the national economic development and modernization efforts of Guyana. Therefore, through the Ministry of Education, the government will continue to forge ahead with its education reform policies amply supported by strategic investments in the education sector.  Since enhancing the quality of education in Guyana is the core mission of the education reform policies of the Guyana government, significant all-round development of the country will be assured.