Georgetown: Although universal access to primary education has become a reality in many parts of the world, Guyana being no exception, there are yet some glaring gaps. At least this is according to the United Nations Development Programme’s 2011 Human Development Report.
The Report has highlighted that nearly three in 10 children of primary school age in low Human Development Index (HDI) countries are not even enrolled in primary schools and multiple constraints, some environmental, persist even for enrolled children. It has been deduced that the lack of electricity, for instance, has both direct and indirect effects. As such the Report has amplified that electricity access can enable better lighting, allowing increased study time, as well as the use of modern stoves reducing time spent collecting fuel (wood) and water, activities shown to slow education progress and lower school enrolment.
In fact it has been revealed that girls are more often adversely affected because they are more likely to combine resource collection and schooling. In addition it has been ascertained that access to clean water and improved sanitation is also especially important for girls’ education, affording them health gains, time savings and privacy.
Although listed among the developing countries of the world, Guyana’s gain in universal primary education is certainly not straddled by some of the existing dilemmas. In fact according to the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF), indicators for school enrolment show that nearly all of Guyana’s children between six and nine years attend school regularly. This accomplishment, UNICEF has declared was instrumental in putting Guyana comfortably on the path to achieve universal primary education.
UNICEF was however able to uncover that in general there is little gender disparity and in almost all cases girls do better than boys. In the hinterland Regions of Eight and Nine, it was recognised, in the past, that the average repetition rates were 15 percent for boys and 10 percent for girls, whereas in the coastal Regions of Two, Three, Four, Five and Six these were three percent and two percent respectively. As such it was ascertained that the major challenge facing Guyanese children was the quality of education and relevance of the curriculum.
Further still it was estimated that some 33 percent of children completing sixth grade did not acquire the basic literacy skills. In fact a sample survey done in 2002 of out-of-school youths aged 14-25 estimated that 20 percent were absolutely illiterate, UNICEF highlighted.
With addressing this situation in mind, Guyana’s proposal for inclusion in the Education For All –Fast Track Initiative – EFA-FTI gained approval and was among the first to have had funds committed to its programme. The Netherlands committed 2.2 Million Euros for the first year of the plan in 2003.
Recognising that Guyana’s major obstacle in education was the disparity in the quality of education offered between the hinterland and the coastland schools, the EFA-FTI strategy was neatly packaged under three initiatives: Improving the Quality of the Teaching Force in the Hinterland, Enhancing the teaching Learning Environment in Primary schools and Strengthening School Community Partnerships, according to UNICEF.
With these initiatives in place it was evident that Guyana was “well on the road to achieving the 100 percent access to quality basic education by 2015.”
At the moment Guyana has about 438 primary schools which have been adequately catering to between 85,000 and 90,000 pupils, according to Assistant Chief Education Officer (Primary), Marcel Hudson said.
In recognition of the fact that primary education is very important to the continued edification of a child, Hudson has revealed that continued efforts are being made to improve the delivery of primary education even as the education sector moves towards the attainment of universal secondary education.
You must be logged in to post a comment.