Education Minister assures teachers they will continue to have access to resources, opportunities

Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, MP, said the Government will continue to provide teachers with resources to help them become more effective in educating Guyana’s children.

The minister was speaking at the launch of the Teachers’ Welfare and Benefit Programme at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Wednesday.

“One of the first conversations Olato [Sam] and I had, when we brought him back on, because he’s far too valuable for us to have him in the country and not have him contribute to education…was how to change how we are treating teachers, providing resources and by that, I mean training, cardboard, chalk and all that to make teachers more effective,” Minister Manickchand said.

She urged teachers to make full use of opportunities presented to them and work towards upgrading themselves. She said the education ministry will continue to provide for teachers across the country.

“We know at the Ministry of Education how valuable good teachers are, we know how much more we can do as a system to make sure our not so good teachers get better and we know that the system cannot have space and tolerance for persons who have no intention of accessing any training to get better,” the minister said.

Meanwhile, Education Specialist, Mr. Olato Sam said the ministry has embraced the concept of teachers’ welfare and is providing a better system for teachers to practice.

“Research has established that the level of satisfaction derived from their [teachers] practice is directly linked to their performance. It is against this backdrop that this teacher’s welfare and benefits programme was devised.

“It has been widely accepted in our society that teachers play a critical role in the development of our nation, it is our expectation that…our teachers will go about their responsibilities with a level of commitment and dedication that will ensure the delivery of the highest quality of education across this nation,” Mr. Sam related.

He told teachers that they will be awarded and recognised for their hard work. He extended appreciation to all partners who made the initiative possible.