739 Grade 6 teachers, Ministry of Education consult on way forward for NGSA 2021
– parents to engage today
Education Minister Priya Manickchand during a virtual meeting yesterday
Marcel Hutson, Chief Education Officer, during yesterday’s virtual meeting
Kaieteur News – Yesterday the Ministry of Education held a virtual advisory meeting with over 739 Grade Six teachers from private and public schools throughout Guyana to discuss writing the 2021 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).
Education Minister Priya Manickchand, who comes out of 2020, says she hopes the New Year will have a higher level of certainty as the Ministry addresses the issues facing the sector especially in a COVID-19 environment.
He said there are many opportunities in 2020 to lead and do things differently as the sector adapts and implements measures to prevent as much learning loss as possible.
Looking ahead, the Education Minister said that she hopes that the lessons learned in 2020 will be incorporated in 2021 to be incorporated into education provision.
He thanked those teachers who have stepped up during this time to ensure their students remain engaged even though they have been at home since March 2020.
Minister Manickchand noted that although the sector has had a tough year, there are still issues to resolve this year particularly the Grade Two, Four, Six and Nine examinations.
However, he noted that the Grade Six exam was being handled first at this time. He said whatever decision is made will also be guided by the COVID-19 virus trajectory and the advice given by the Ministry of Health.
Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson, in his remarks that the Ministry of Education takes pride in consultations. “We never try to move without knowing the views of our partners and stakeholders.”
He said the Ministry recognized the importance of primary education and had done many things to reach children so that they remained as engaged as possible. He explained that schedule content for all grades was broadcast on the Guyana Learning Channel while the Schools Broadcast and the Interactive Radio Instructions (IRI) programs continue to be broadcast on the radio.
He said the meeting organized by the Ministry should also be considered in response to concerns raised by parents and teachers over time about writing the NGSA. He said the meeting was important so that officials in the Ministry can know what the relevant stakeholders and partners think about the issue so that any decision made going forward can be informed.
During the meeting, several teachers “shared their views on the issue and made meaningful recommendations on how they believe the Ministry should address the issue,” the ministry said in their statements .
Some of the options discussed included getting students to write the full exam on content up to Grade Six, or the full exam but on content up to Grade Five. The meeting also explored the option of not having children write papers one and two or asking them to write both papers but with fewer questions. It was also recommended that students can complete projects as an assessment tool.
Consultations continue today when parents and guardians of students who are supposed to write the NGSA this year will be hired.
“Parents and guardians of Regions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and Georgetown will be held at 10:00 am while parents and guardians of Regions 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 will be held at 13:00 hours. Parents are asked to contact their schools for the login details. “