Gov’t saddened at passing of former Secretary-General of UNESCO, Carmen Jarvis

President David Granger has described the late Carmen Jarvis, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and veteran educator, as a stalwart and one of the persons who help to give Guyana the foundation in Education and Culture it now enjoys.

“The Government is very sad at her passing and I extend our condolences to her daughter,” the Head of State said.

The President who was speaking to the media today said only a few months ago he had the pleasure of being in attendance as Mrs. Jarvis launched her biography, “I was very happy to be with her on that occasion.”

Mrs. Jarvis was Guyana’s country representative for UNESCO and “in this regard she was able to give Guyana prominence in the world particularly for our heritage sites,” President Granger noted.

She was one of the longest serving and most respected individuals to hold the post of Secretary-General and was awarded the Aristotle Medal by UNESCO.

In her years of teaching, Mrs. Jarvis was employed at Queen’s College before being appointed as Headmistress of The Bishop’s High School, where she served for 27 years.

In 1983, she was appointed the first woman Chairman of the National Library Committee. She also served the Council of the University of Guyana for some 14 years.

She was awarded the Golden Arrow of Achievement for long and outstanding service in Education and Social Work in 1981. In 1998, Ms. Jarvis was awarded a second national award, this time, the Cacique’s Crown of Honour for her outstanding service in Education and Social Work.

Mrs. Jarvis was also responsible for Guyana being elected on the Executive Board of UNESCO twice, from 1983 to 1987 and from 1993 to 1997. She played an integral role in Guyana once being elected to the Man and the Biosphere International Council and several times to the Council of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

She passed away yesterday evening (March 29, 2017) in the United States.