Teachers welcome meeting with the Ministry of Education on NGSA 2021

The Ministry of Education held its first virtual consultation today with Grades five and six teachers regarding the sitting of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) 2021.

The engagement was a complete success with teachers expressing their appreciation at having the opportunity to be heard.

The NGSA is an important examination as it decides the secondary school a Grade Six student will be placed to complete their secondary education. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, all schools have been closed since March 16, 2020. With the new school year approaching, the Ministry of Education decided to consult with the Grades five and six teachers on how best the nation’s children can be taught and assessed in 2021 while being away from school or when they would have lost a lot of contact time.

The Honourable Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand said that Guyana is no stranger to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic which has hit the world. She said following the closure of schools in March, teachers were left without direction or assistance to determine the way forward.

She said, “I recognized that there was no central direction and or assistance and I’m extremely impressed by the way teachers have used their own initiatives, their own resources, their own learning, to reach our children. We want to say with very grateful hearts, thank you very much.”

The Education Minister added that the Ministry understands that it cannot continue to fail to give direction and assistance to teachers, hence the need for the forum. Further, she stated that the Ministry intends to meet with teachers in the other grades over the next few weeks.

Teachers from across the 11 education districts participated in the meeting and noted that the initiative was timely. Ms. Rayona Jack from Mocha Arcadia Primary School said that she welcomed the forum where the concerns of teachers are being heard. Ms. Waheeda Hemnarain thanked the Ministry for seeing the need of incorporating the thoughts of teachers on the examination. Meanwhile, Desiree Browne of Westfield Prep expressed her deep appreciation for the opportunity to engage in an informative discussion.

Teachers were given the opportunity to openly speak about their concerns, make recommendations and also leave comments in the forum’s chat; all of which will be documented and considered by the Ministry of Education in its decision-making process. Several similar engagements are scheduled to be hosted to ensure we engage all stakeholders in education. There was a total of 1,131 persons participating in the forum today.