The Ministry of Education on Friday said that students from across nursery to tertiary levels will be engaged in learning from next Monday through a “blended multifaceted approach.”
Subject Minister Priya Manickchand made the announcement and said that the activities will begin on September 14 and will run indefinitely until the Education Ministry receives clearance from the relevant authorities to move students back to the classrooms.
Manickchand said the approach will see teaching taking place online, on the Learning Channel, via the state radio and print material; it will all be done based on connectivity and teacher availability.
Some $300 million has been set aside in the national 2020 budget for these blended learning options.
“Many schools began to engage students on those platforms already and it has been extended to Google, Zoom, WhatsApp and Facebook and we have reports of fairly good attendance,” Manickchand said while pointing out that the Ministry was serious about reducing learning loss across the country.
She said already the Ministry has developed curriculum content for delivery on the Learning Channel and print material to be disseminated to students.
“Already we have prepared at least one-month work in the form of worksheets… When we roll out that first month we will have people working to prepare the next month and so on,” she added.
The Minister explained that nursery level students will receive home-based kits which will be delivered within six weeks but until then they will receive worksheets and workbooks to use at home.
Additionally, from 8am to 10am daily there will be programming for nursery age children on the Learning Channel.
Primary and Secondary level students will be exposed to learning in the four core subjects – Math, Social Studies, Science and English.
Each nursery child will have four core textbooks to accompany teaching in these areas.
Manickchand explained that over the weekend a timetable will be released for all teaching activities on the Learning Channel.
Meanwhile, the Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) students will be engaged online along with all courses being taught at the University of Guyana.
Special education needs students will be engaged online or through print material and worksheets.
The Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) will continue to deliver classes online or through print material.
“Teachers, parents, students this is not a normal time we are in a pandemic… it is an abnormal time and it is an imperfect time and we have to work with what we have… this is how we can help them in this time,” she added.
The Minister gave no timetable for the reopening of schools but advised that currently the Ministry is putting in place safety infrastructure for when that time comes.
