In order to strategically reduce the inequalities between the delivery of education on the hinterland and the coastland, the Ministries of Education and Local Government and Regional Development must work in a more cohesive manner.
This is the position of Education Minister Priya Manickchand, who has contended that the relationship between the two ministries needs some ‘polishing’.
A substantial amount of the Ministry of Education’s $135.2 billion budgetary allocation will go towards the advancement of education in hinterlands regions this year.
The monies will see several new schools, dorms, and teachers’ living quarters being constructed in Orealla Region Six, Jawalla in Region Seven, Micobie and Monkey Mountain in Region Eight, among others.
Additionally, children residing in the hinterland will benefit from the grants to purchase classroom supplies, hot meals through the national school feeding programme and textbooks including past paper to prepare them for the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examination.
While the projects are catered for under the Education Ministry’s budget, it is the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development that maintains the infrastructure for schools, dorms, and teachers’ living quarters.
The Ministry of Local Government also supervises and pays for wages of educators, among other duties.
In a live interview on EdYou FM on Monday, Manickchand disclosed that the relationship between the two ministries is “a little clumsy”.
On this point, she explained that there were instances whereby works aimed at developing education in the hinterland was sent out by her ministry but were not executed by the local government ministry.
“We put out the policy. So, we will say something like, ‘we want each apartment of a teacher to have a fridge, a stove, a microwave, a bed, ten plates, ten cups’… whatever it is that we want them to have and then it is the region that has to implement that through their budget because we don’t have a budget for it through central ministry. So that relationship needs frankly some polishing up because we have to make sure what the government intends, is what is happening in the ground and I don’t think in every case that’s happening, I’ve seen that,” the Education Minister said.
In this regard, she said that this issue must be addressed as government continues to work towards delivery on its promise of universal education across Guyana.
