Education Minister Shaik Baksh has urged parents and some education managers to adapt to change that will positively transform students and improve the delivery and performance of the education sector.
Baksh, who was at the time speaking at a recent forum at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) said, though the ministry has instituted the plans and polices to bolster performance of the sector, all have to play their part to ensure the achievement of desirable results.
According to a release by the ministry, he pointed out that failure of students must not be an option and head teachers, regional education officials and notably parents must make a concerted effort to enhance the learning outcomes of students. Baksh also pledged the ministry’s full support of their action in this regard.
The minister contended that some parents seem not to have the interest of their children at heart and underlines as minister, he makes no apologies for revamping the old ways of doing things to prevent repeated failures by students. He expressed the view that students’ learning outcomes will only get better if parents begin to closely monitor the performance of their children at school and head teachers become accountable for the performance of every child under their charge.
The failure of head teachers to honour this expectation, he said, represents a defeat of the purpose of the many workshops and seminars held for them to improve the performance of school managers. He emphasised too, that only through effective leadership, coupled with sound management, will head teachers and their senior staff be able to effectively transform the performance of their students.
On that note, he pointed out that good managers know that planning and organisation are critical to success, and every school must adopt this approach. Baksh observed that the best performing schools often have better organised and prepared teachers and stressed that all head teachers and their senior staff must inculcate these habits in their teachers to bring out the best in them.
The minister also advocated the establishment of a National Teachers’ Council to further professionalise the work of teachers by setting high and clearly defined standards. He noted that the Ministry of Education has established standards for teachers but the Council through consultations with teachers throughout the country will upgrade those in existence among other things.
The minister emphasised that it is time for senior teachers to see themselves as leaders in the school system, and together strive to create a culture of learning that focuses on improving the outcomes of students as well as the operational efficiency of their respective schools.
This, he said, includes networking with parents, the community, and effectively delegating duties to their subordinates to shore-up results at all levels of management at their school.
He underlined that this approach is necessary because at the end of the day, the delivery of quality education and improvement in students’ performance really matters and the ministry has been making diligent efforts to realise these goals.
The education of the nation’s children, Baksh said cannot be left to chance and it is for this reason that the ministry supports and encourages all teachers in the school system to pursue higher studies at the University of Guyana (UG). He said that the plan now is to have at least 50 per cent trained graduates in the profession including teachers with master’s degrees to strengthen and broaden education research and constantly improve efficiency and performance at all levels of the education sector.
