(GuyanaChronicle)TO tackle bureaucratic delays in education delivery and enable schools in Guyana to manage their own affairs, a new policy is under consideration, according to President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.
The Head of State made this revelation on Tuesday at the commissioning of the $200 million Victoria Lily Primary School at Tuschen, East Bank Essequibo..
“One of the important policies that the ministry is also working on is to give more autonomy to the schools in their decision-making and in management.”
For far too long, schools across the country have been challenged with getting their required needs fulfilled in a timely manner.
“There is a system that is very centralized with too much bureaucracy and too many power brokers. For example, the schools must go through the regional system to get basic essential things to manage the schools and then you have bureaucratic delays; you have sometimes the creation of little superpowers who believe the authority given to them is to control how much chalk goes to a school,” President Ali explained.
Meanwhile, another policy to implement additional compulsory hours for mathematics is being considered.
At this year’s Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examinations, Guyana’s pass rate for mathematics was 34 per cent.
Meanwhile, at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) this year the country recorded improvements in the pupils’ performances in Science and Mathematics. In Mathematics, the pass rate jumped from 34.72 per cent in 2022 to 39.87 per cent this year.
A total of 15,360 candidates sat this examination.
With these statistics being of concern, the President noted that the ministry will also consider the use of artificial intelligence to help children in the subject area.
“We cannot continue with the existing pass rate in mathematics; it is unacceptable and we must change it and we will change it,” the President said, adding:
“We need to, in a very targeted manner, create additional hours for mathematics at the secondary school level, especially at the exam level.”
