International stakeholders engaging MoE on review of Education Sector Plan
As Guyana prepares to review its Education Sector plan several stakeholders have been visiting with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to gather a holistic view of what obtains.
Recently, an independent consultancy group tasked with evaluation of the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) contribution to strengthening national education systems concluded their Guyana country Mission via a debriefing session/ courtesy call with Hon. Nicolette Henry, Minister of Education.
Guyana has received a grant from GPE to the tune of US $1.7m to improve the Early Childhood Education Programme in regions 1,7,8,9 and remote riverine communities over a three year period.
During their engagement with Minister Henry the consultants heaped praises on Guyana for its use of the grant received. Though small by world standards it was dubbed as “impactful” to improve early childhood development particularly for communities out of Georgetown.
Further, the Project has been effective through the delivery of resource learning kits which have been deemed as “impressive and impactful”. Minister Henry in expressing gratitude, spoke of government’s emphasis on the importance of the gains and the sustainability of such interventions. The sustainability is already in process as this year’s budget has made provide for kits to be made available to schools on the coast land.
Minister Henry also noted that multi stakeholder engagements are
community based with a partnership approach via initiatives such as Townhall meetings with parents and local partners which has been very useful.
Referring to her predecessor, Minister Dr Rupert Roopnarine commissioning of a Commission of Inquiry (CoI) as a gain, Minister Henry said “We (Government) are looking at reviewing the education sector plan for the year towards 2019 when the information collected would inform the forward thrust of the education sector. We are also engaged and continue to interface with key sectors that don’t always have to be a formal setting to address the needs of all Guyanese to gather relevant information to inform decision making.”
At that juncture the Minister was informed that the GPE also offers grants to fund consultations which could be tapped into, to which Minister expressed elation that the team have engaged the senior officers and other stakeholders. I believe that it will be beneficial to aid the process of Education advancement from the coast to the Hinterland.
Prior to the Minister’s debriefing, a team of Education officials including Chief Education Officer Mr Marcel Hutson and the Chief of the Planning Unit Ms. Evelyn Hamilton were today part of a Summative evaluation of global partnership for education’s (GPE) contribution to strengthening national education systems Guyana country mission debrief.
The evaluation consortium lead for the debrief were consultant assigned to the mission in Guyana were: Ms. Katrina Rojas, Ms. Pearline Henry and Dr. Archi Rastogi.
The mission in Guyana was conducted from April 9-18, 2018.
The purpose of the evaluation is not intended to assess whether Guyana has achieved the outcomes outlined in the 2014-2018 Education Sector plan (ESP). It is aimed at determining the extent to which GPE support has been relevant, effective and efficient in helping to strengthen Guyana’s Education sector. The debrief focused on key messages that emerged from the interviews conducted during the team’s visit. These interviews are only one part of the team’s data collection. These are being completed by a systematic review of relevant documents, sector data and literature.
Stakeholders engaged included officials from the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, the Teaching Service Commission, development partners, civil society and the private Sector.