| – as Guyana gears to pilot Portuguese curriculumMoves have been engaged by the Ministry of Education to equip Region Five with two List ‘A’ Schools in time for the commencement of the new school year. The two schools that have been identified for this status are the Rosignol and Bygeval Secondary Schools.This disclosure was made on Friday by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, at the first in a series of monthly press briefings. The venue was the National Centre for Education Resources Development (NCERD).Minister of Education – Priya ManickchandThe Minister said that Region Five is currently the single administrative Region void of List ‘A’ Schools. She explained that the listing of schools speaks to the quality of the schools as opposed to the size of the school which is characterised by grade.Grade A, the Minister said,Cheap Jerseys China, indicates that a school is large but a List ‘A’ school “is a good quality type education school that attracts students who perform very well.”The absence of a List ‘A’ school in Region Five has resulted in hardship to parents as well as students, Manickchand said. She revealed that candidates of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) Examinations would have to go to either Regions Six or Four in order to attend List ‘A’ schools.However, before the two schools – Rosignol and Bygeval Secondary Schools – which are situated at the two extremes of the Region, are ready to boast the enhanced status, Minister Manickchand said that they will first have to be upgraded.In order for a school to achieve List ‘A’ status it must be adequately staffed,Cheap Jerseys For Sale, complete with teachers to offer foreign languages. Moreover,Cheap Jerseys, efforts will be made by the Ministry to secure teachers to introduce at least Spanish at the Rosignol Secondary School.In addition, moves will be made to refurbish both Information Technology and Science laboratories at the two schools.Added to the refurbishment of the Science labs, Minister Manickchand, said that “we have to furnish them with chemicals and so on to do the kinds of subjects that they have to do,China NBA Jerseys, although they might be already doing some but not up to a certain level.”Although unable to give a cost for the planned upgrade, the Minister was optimistic that the requisite funds will be made available to meet the upgrade in a timely manner.As such she expressed confidence that “the new batch of NGSA students will be the first that are going to access the facilities as new entrants.”The upgraded facilities, she noted, will also be of equal benefit to students already attending the schools which, according to her, have very large enrolments.Introducing PortugueseFor the coming school year the Ministry is gearing to introduce Portuguese as the newest foreign language. Currently a curriculum is being crafted by the Ministry of Education even as plans are streamlined for its introduction, according to Minister Manickchand.The foreign languages currently on offer at the secondary level are Spanish and French. The Minister also disclosed that her Ministry is working in collaboration with the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) to introduce Portuguese as one of its examined subjects in the next three to five years.“We are working with CXC to set a syllabus as well as to determine how and what the exams are going to be,” said Manickchand. Moves have also been made to engage Brazil in order to bolster the Portuguese teaching capacity.At the moment there are perhaps less than six local teachers qualified to aptly deliver lessons in the subject area.She noted that through the Brazil collaboration, “we would have sort of an exchange or transfer of teachers here,Cheap MLB Jerseys China, not unlike the VSO voluntary teachers that are brought from different countries to deliver tuition and instructions in various areas.”And since there are a limited number of teachers in this regard,Cheap Jerseys USA, Manickchand said that the initial introduction of the subject will be at a few schools. She explained that the Ministry will, as a result, seek to derive a timetable in such a way that the same teachers can move around to the identified schools.“We intend to start this in September with our teachers in six schools but if our engagement with Brazil produces before September then we would be able to do this in many more schools.”It is the expectation of the Minister that the subject area would not remain specific to Guyana but will catch on across the Region and be recognised as a venture that was piloted and pioneered by Guyana. |
