Prioritizing education is key to human resource development – Minister of Education Nicolette Henry
Press Release
(July 1st, 2018)
It was a time of celebration and jubilation continually as parents, teachers, well-wishers along with the Minister of Education, Hon. Nicolette Henry gathered to congratulate and tangibly celebrate the achievements of the Top 10 students of Education District 10 (Region 10) at this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA). The location was the One Mile Primary School, Wismar, Linden.
Addressing the gathering of elated students and parents, Minister Henry said that education has to be prioritized for several reasons, chief of which is the development of Guyana’s human resource. She said that quality education is even more necessary since Guyana is on the precipice of becoming an oil producing country.
“We are getting into oil and we won’t have the human resources to capitalize without educational improvements. We have to ensure that this generation has the competency and capacity to manage our resources well. We have to recognize our young and aspiring future leaders to ensure that they have what it takes to move Guyana from poverty to prosperity,” Minister Henry admonished.
The Education Minister said that District 10’s performance this year is certainly encouraging, however, she was categorical that her primary concern is that in the future, all students need to pass the examination by at least 50 percent.
Minister Henry further told those gathered that while she recognizes that improvement in performance was due to hard work by stakeholders within the education sector, there is still a lot of hard work needed to ensure more students achieve above 50%. “…when this is achieved it would translate to more students being able to matriculate at the CSEC level hence it is important that the Primary level sets the stage for that possibility” Minister Henry encouraged.
Moreover, to achieve these goals, the Minister of Education stated that it will take the efforts of all stakeholders.
Meanwhile, the highlight of the simple but significant visit to the region was the minister’s personal message of congratulations to the top 10 students of the district.
This was done by Minister Henry in the presence of Mr. Owen Pollard Assistant Chief Education Officer (Primary). The children were issued 50th Independence Anniversary commemorative books to inform them of Guyana’s history and its journey thus far as she motivated them to see themselves as the architects of the next 50 years.
She added that she hopes to see more of the students in terms of their academic journey. Minister Henry said that when students perform well, they should be recognized and simultaneously urged to do better.
The students that were recognized for were Shakina McGregor (521 Marks), Somira Dainty (519 Marks), Shakina London (519 Marks), Owen Hooper (518 Marks), Latanya Edwards (516 Marks), Zaria Jacobis (514 Marks), Oroyo Trotman (513 Marks), Zalika Dey (513 Marks) Anton Ward (513 Marks), Shinnia Flatts (512 Marks), Seraiah Doris-Walker (512 Marks) and Makayla Moseley (512 Marks).
