In keeping with its quest to increase access to education in all communities countrywide, the Education Ministry, on Thursday, October 6, commissioned the Martindale Primary School Annexe in Pomeroon, Region Two.
The $8 million school, accessible by boat, is located on the bank of the Nunes Canal, an estuary of the Pomeroon River, and less than a mile from the main building situated on the bank of the Pomeroon River.
Equipped with modern amenities, the building can accommodate some 30 pupils.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh, who attended the occasion, said the facility represents fulfillment of government’s promise made to Pomeroon residents a few years ago.
Baksh told the gathering of parents, pupils and teachers that the construction of the school is in keeping with government’s commitment to make education accessible to all, and to ensure that no child is left behind.
The Martindale Primary School (annex)
Guyana has already achieved universal access to primary education, and is on the verge of achieving universal access to secondary education. Enrolment at the pre- primary levels stands at around 85 per cent.
Under the new education legislation currently before the Attorney General’s Chambers, pre-primary education has been made compulsory.
Parents will be required to send their children, aged three years nine months, to school, or risk being placed before the court.
Baksh said the move dovetails with the ministry’s drive to build a solid foundation at the pre-primary level as that will allow pupils to make a smooth transition to primary school.
The goal at the primary level, he said, is to get pupils to learn to read before they enter Grade Three, and master the basics in literacy and numeracy before they leave the primary cycle.
On this score, Baksh said, parents have a role to play in the process. He noted that parents must ensure that their children attend school every day, and are given the attention they deserve at home.
He said that education is the vehicle that will take poor families out of poverty.
The government is doing all within its means to enable students to acquire a sound secondary education and be able to make a meaningful contribution to the development of Guyana.
Those students who have dropped out of school because of varying circumstances, he said, cannot be neglected; and he stressed that the government is building technical and vocational training centres throughout the country to cater to those students.
Currently, new technical and vocational training centres at Leonora in Region Two and at Mahaicony in Region Five are almost complete. The Education Ministry is also in the process of establishing a skills training centre at Lethem in Region Nine.
These new institutes, which complement those in Georgetown and Region 10, provide students with skills that will make them employable and lead constructive and productive lives.
Region Two Vice Chairman Vishnu Samaroo said education is one of the success stories of the region. He pointed out that students’ performance at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) and the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations have been improving over the years. Apart from this, Samaroo said, more teachers in the region are being trained through the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) satellite training centre at Anna Regina.
In addition, new student dorms are being built and others are being renovated to cater for students in riverine communities.
Samaroo said that some 500 Amerindian scholarship students from the region are attending top secondary schools in Georgetown, while some have been awarded scholarships to study medicine and engineering in Cuba. Some of these students, he said, have completed their studies and are serving the region.
The parents who were part of the commissioning ceremony expressed gratitude to the government for delivering on its promise, and made a commitment to maintain the building.
