Education Ministry’s department heads urged to reflect green activities in workplans

GINA, GUYANA, Saturday, January 07, 2017

Programme heads from the various departments of the Education Ministry, met to lay out their work plans for 2017. The meeting allowed the Education Ministers the opportunity to ensure the education sector is heading in the right direction.

The four -day meeting, which came to a close on Friday at the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), Kingston, allowed for collaboration and cooperation among cross-cutting units within the Ministry.

Minister within the Ministry of Education Nicolette Henry told the Government Information Agency (GINA), that the meeting served to ensure better performance of the various units.

The meeting, according to the Minister will help the units to “traffic light” their programmes. This will allow for focus of programmes that should be engaging the attention of the Education Ministers as priority programmes.

“When you traffic light the work plan, it gives you a great sense of urgency of what needs to happen now. If its red lighted it means it is a danger area and therefore it requires action, if it is green lighted then it means that’s okay, they are working as they should and therefore you do not need to pay as much attention,” Minister Henry explained.

While most of the units were on track with their work, but the Minister pointed out that their plans did not reflect “green activities”. The Minister stated, “I particularly mentioned that I need to see a deliberate effort on the part of Programme Heads to include in their work plans activities related towards Guyana moving to this green state because it is only through the work that you do, and the activities that you carry out that you can really achieve it… a lot of them are thinking it but they haven’t pretty much articulated it in the work plan.”

Programme Heads were urged to get familiar with what is inside the 2107 National Budget. Minister Henry explained, “you cannot be planning your work plan and you have never seen the budget. This is where your financial resources are allocated. Anything that is in the budget for the Ministry of Education must be somebody’s work plan.”

Minister Henry noted that once all the units are working well, the Ministry will be able to keep a better handle on the performance of the education sector, ensuring that the units are specific in their programme selection and that their plans are realistic in the context of the Education Ministry and the country.

All work plans according to the Minister are expected to be finalised by the end of January. The Education Ministry was allocated $43.1 billion to carry out its mandate, and improve education delivery and quality.

The nine programmes of the Ministry of Education are:-

1. Policy Development and Administration.
2. Training and Development (e.g. CPCE, Distance Education and Allied Arts.
3. Nursery Education
4.  Primary Education
5.  Secondary Education
6. Post Secondary/Tertiary Education
7. Cultural Preservation and Conservation
8.  Youth and Sport

Together these programmes, along with relevant stakeholders, aid the successful advancement of the education sector.

By: Isaiah Braithwaite