Gov’t continues to invest heavily in hinterland education programme – Sukhai

Drawn from several hinterland regions of Guyana, 62 students who would have completed their secondary, technical and tertiary education under the Hinterland Scholarship Programme graduated last Wednesday. Several of them will return to their respective communities to serve their people.
Officials from the ministry including Minister Pauline Sukhai and Permanent Secretary Nigel Dharamlall joined parents and guardians at the ceremony at the Amerindian Village at the Sophia Exhibition Complex. The graduates were given certificates as well awards for consistent academic performances, best all rounder, most improved and best behaved students.
This is the fifth year since the hinterland scholarship programme was introduced, having evolved from the Amerindian scholarship programme introduced in 1963.
Delivering the feature address Minister Sukhai said that the programme has come a long way. “Government has moved the scholarship programme from just a hinterland scholarship which benefitted Amerindian students to all the hinterland students who have completed their primary education and have exceeded at the National Grade Six Assessment.” She said,“Government is now providing the ideal opportunity for the students in a more comfortable and academically induced environment” for the students to obtain their education. This, Minister Sukhai credits to the number of services that government would have since implemented to augment the scholarship programme and this includes the construction of the students’ dormitory at Liliendaal.
Minister Sukhai said that the dormitory in the city, “speaks volume” of how extensive the programme would have progressed and to the kind of interventions that government has been implementing to the benefit of the hinterland communities and residents.
“Today, we see that the hinterland population is becoming a more educated one; we have seen all the hinterland students now have access to primary education… and that speaks volumes to efforts and investments that government has put towards educating our population,” she said.
Government continues to work towards expansive education in the hinterland with the hope that by 2015, universal secondary education in Guyana will be realized, taking the country to a level that matches it, education wise with some of the developed countries.

Minister Sukhai expressed optimism that by that time as well, secondary education in the hinterland will not only expand but, the programmes offered will also be much more improved.
She said the optimism is that, “infrastructure and facilities which the government has so many challenges with, in the hinterland would also be expanded and improved.”
Minister Sukhai on hearing students reflect and praise the programme said that she was humbled by their gratitude.  The students were advised to continue their education and to seek to give back to their respective hinterland communities.
The scholarship programme caters for hinterland students who gain 470 to 479 marks at the National Grade Six Assessment to be granted regional scholarships to attend schools in their regions and those with 480 and above are granted national scholarships to attend secondary schools in Georgetown. The students have the option of completing their secondary education in their region if they so desire.
Best Graduating Student Abiram Edwins received a cash incentive courtesy of Annette Arjoon-Martin and her husband Dave Martin as well as a copy of their book “The Amerindian Way.”
The cash incentive will now be an annual feature of the graduation ceremony supported by the Martins.