Investment in education beginning to pay dividends – President

Georgetown, GINA, August 15, 2013

The record 20 passes at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) 2013 exams were enough to convince President Donald Ramotar about Guyana being listed among the region’s top performing nations for another year.

Zimeena Rasheed of Anna Regina Secondary, CSEC top performer who scored 18 grade ones and two grade twos

Zimeena Rasheed from Anna Regina Secondary on the Essequibo Coast, Region Two is  Guyana’s Caribbean Examination Council’s (CXC’s) top student with 18 Grade Ones and two Grade Twos. Her peer, Yogeeta Persaud copped 18 Grade Ones.

“Some of these students that I am seeing… brilliant students… I think that is fantastic… I am willing to bet that we probably topped the Caribbean again,” President Ramotar said.

 

Guyana topped the region last year with four out of the eight CXC awards. Sarah Hack from Abraham’s Zuil on the Essequibo Coast gained 16 grade ones, earning her the region’s top spot.

Shalita Appadu, top CAPE performer for 2013

This year’s CXC results revealed 231 candidates securing Grade One passes in eight or more subjects, while at the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) level, Guyana recorded an overall pass rate of 86.6 percent.  Shalita Appadu’s six grade ones and one grade two made President’s College the top performer at CAPE.

 

“Our investment in education is beginning to pay dividends to us and we are beginning to see that we have the capacity and the brain power as any other country in the world. It is now for us to harness that and to put it towards the development of our country,” President Ramotar said at the National Economic Forum on Wednesday.

Yogeeta Persaud of anna Regina Secondary who copped 18 grade ones at the CSEC

A large portion of the country’s annual budget goes towards the education sector, targeting improvements in the physical infrastructure and human resource capacity.

Attention has also been given to technical vocational training to produce the technical skills that will be in high demand as Guyana transitions from an agricultural to an industrial economy.

 

A sum of $28.7B was allocated to the education sector this year.