Education budget will allow us to do some of the things we have always dreamt of doing – Minister Manickchand  

The $74.4 billion allocated to improving access to education and education delivery in the 2022 National Budget is evident of the PPP/C Administration’s strategy for development said Minister Priya Manickchand. This is a significant increase compared to last year’s allocation of $60.7 billion.

In an invited comment on Friday, Minister Manickchand stated that the budgetary allocation will allow for significant interventions within the education sector.

Minister of Education, Hon. Priya Manickchand M.P.

“…budget 2022 continues and properly evidences the PPP’s strategy for the country. The PPP/ C’s desire and intention for the country… is to make sure every single sector, every single person who interacts with the sector, which means every citizen benefits in some way…This budget will allow us to do some of the things we’ve always dreamt of doing,” she stated.

The Minister highlighted a number of areas within the education sector that funding from this budget will be utilised for such as, “Allow us to get textbooks in the hands of each high school student.  It is going to allow us to expand our feeding programme that will take us now… no more than eighty-five thousand children will be getting either a hot meal or some kind of nutrition every single day, more than 900 schools,” she noted.

She also stated that the sector’s budgetary allocation caters for increasing the quantity as well as the quality of teachers within the training system.

“That’s very important. If you don’t have teachers in the classroom, and you know on the Coast we see teachers but in the hinterland there is a whole set of classrooms where one teacher is teaching four grades, we call it multi grade teaching so, this budget is going to help us to begin making sure we produce more teachers and better trained teachers,” she asserted.

The Minister also referenced the government’s mandate of providing 4500 scholarships this year alone from well renowned universities around the world with the aim of equipping Guyanese in a variety of fields. The budget plays an important role in this initiative.

The Minister said that the large allocation will also facilitate an expansion of the education services offered nationwide while striving to ensure that there is equitable education access nationwide.

During the Budget presentation on Wednesday, Senior Minister in the Office of the President with responsibility for Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, M.P., said that the allocation is in keeping with the government’s five-year Education Strategic Plan (ESP) 2021-2025-Vision 2030.

 “An education system that delivers a modern, model, and adaptive learning experience is an imperative to realising His Excellency’s vision of a world class education for all,” he stated.

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