Education COI Chairman urges citizen participation

GINA, GUYANA, Monday, August 29, 2016

The Commissioners of Inquiry into the state of the education system wants the public to know that the process is still on-going and the inputs of all are welcome.

“You still have many, many opportunities to ensure that your voice is heard. We are going into every community,” the COI Chairman Ed Caesar said, during a presentation at the recently held National Toshaos Council (NTC) meeting.

Caesar explained that the COI commissioners have already been in contact with the Regional Executive Officers (REOs) of the 10 administrative regions. “We have presented them with a programme of visits to the regions, and we have asked that they communicate with the several communities to ensure that the people’s voices are heard,” Caesar said.

As the COI goes into the regions and communities, the Chairman urged, “Please ensure that your voices are heard. Let us hear from you. We cannot make decisions by guess. We need you to say that this is happening in my region, my community. These are the peculiarities, help us to resolve them, help to solve them.”

But even as the COI chairman advised that the residents come out in their numbers and raise all their concerns, he recommended that they not only seek to highlight the negatives.

“Do not think only of bad things. There must be good things happening in your areas that too must be brought to the attention of the Ministry of Education and the COI, so that we would know what the good things that should be enhanced are. Good things must continue to happen and continue to happen in a better way,” Caesar said.

The COI Chairman said the commission has thus far held 13 consultations, during which, representation was made from indigenous peoples.

“Last week from Region Nine we had two representatives, who came to speak in Wapishana and who impressed upon us, the need to have certain languages, native to the indigenous people in the schools,” Caesar advised.

The COI into the state of the education system is in keeping with the government’s belief that education in Guyana will require comprehensive and far-reaching reform if the system is going to prove capable of addressing the country’s developmental needs.

The COI is expected to establish a baseline analysis of the sector, as well as recommend broad strategic guidelines for its enhancement, including addressing issues of the low and declining examination scores, and the challenges of human resource development with regards to enrollment and curriculum delivery.