Education Minister Shaik Baksh on November 22, officially commissioned the spanking Gy$293.5 million Leonora Secondary School, strategically located within proximity of the Synthetic Track and the Leonora Technical Institute on the West Coast Demerara.
Addressing the occasion, Education Ministry Permanent Secretary, Pulandar Kandhi related that apart from the cost of construction which was executed by Kares Construction Company, Gy$14.8 million was spent on furniture, Gy$9.5 million on tools and equipment, and Gy$4.3 million on two well equipped information technology laboratories.
The new $293.5 million Leonora Secondary School located at West Coast Demerara
The land housing the new building was initially used by cattle farmers as a field for cultivating antelope grass.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh said the building, another huge investment in education, is part of a wider plan to ensure every child receives a secondary education in a comfortable learning environment.
He said government, from the inception, has a keen interest in the development of its human resources, which essentially are Guyana’s children, and has been working tirelessly for all to have access to a sound education.
“We have a strong vision of where we want to be and the future of Guyana rests squarely on the education system and the performance of the schools… We can only achieve greater social and economic development of our country with a highly educated population,” the minister said.
Baksh said this process should start at an early age, when children are as young as three years, nine months, a Government Information Agency (GINA) release reported him as saying.
At present, there is approximately 85 percent access in the pre-primary level and within a two-year period, the ministry is aiming to achieve 100 percent access. This means, that every child at this level must be placed at a nursery school, and to this end, government is committed to ensuring that more schools are constructed.
Moreover, it will become compulsory for parents to send their children to a pre-primary school and failure to comply will attract a sanction.
With regards to primary education, the minister said that Guyana has done exceedingly well compared to other countries, noting that the country has achieved the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of universal access to primary education, and is working feverishly to achieve universal access to secondary education.
This year, Guyana saw its largest ever batch of students entering secondary schools, including the hinterland areas. Moreover, the number of students entering the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations has been increasing over the years, moving from 5,000 in 1992 to 13,000 in 2011. The number of subject entries has also increased from 20,000 in 1992 to 70,000 in 2011.
In cases where students are unable to complete their secondary education, the ministry has introduced the Secondary School Competency Certificate Programme; whereby they can undertake an assessment at Grade Nine and earn a certificate.
Apart from the various academic programmes, the ministry is also avidly promoting sports and the arts (drama, poetry and music) in schools to inculcate in students a deep sense of patriotism, the GINA release said. To this end, Minister Baksh made a commitment to develop the school’s playground. He said that while the ministry has introduced a range of other initiatives, including the Guyana Learning Channel to ensure students have access to a variety of education materials, parents too have a pivotal role to play.
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