Night School initiative to extend to Regions One, Three, Nine 

DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, November 14, 2017

The Youth Empowerment Night School programme will soon be extended to Port Kaituma, Region One; Meten-Meer-Zorg, Region Three; and the Rupununi, Region Nine. This is according to the Presidential Advisor on Youth Empowerment, Aubrey Norton.

The Night School programme was launched in North Ruimveldt, Sophia, and Soesdyke in 2016, targeting school drop-outs and persons who gained less than five (5) subjects at Caribbean Examinations Council (CSEC).

Speaking to the Department of Public Information (DPI), Norton explained that the department has been visiting several areas and conducting surveys to determine the number of students who are out of school or do not have the required number of CSEC subjects to secure a job.

“…We also had some of them even drop out of school and we wanted to give them a second chance. And so, we piloted three-night school programmes. We also found that the level of poverty didn’t permit many of them to travel far for school, and so we have begun the night school,” Norton explained.

He also reported that the programme would have thus far, recorded a 75 percent success among the students who wrote CSEC. While there were satisfactory results in English, the department is currently in discussion with the teachers on methods to improve in the area of mathematics.

According to Norton, one of the recommendations that came out of the discussions, is that teachers need to develop more creative techniques to motivate the young people to be committed to their studies.

Currently, there are over 100 students in North Ruimveldt benefiting; 100 in Sophia and over 70 in Soesdyke. The teachers are employed from within the area and are paid 3,000 per hour to instruct the students.

Meanwhile, the Presidential Advisor’s office is also facilitating music programmes for the youths in Linden, Region Ten and New Amsterdam, Region Six. This programme will soon be extended to Essequibo, Region Two.

All of these projects are led by young people who were trained in leadership by the department.

 

By: Synieka Thorne

 

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