New Minister of Education Priya Manickchand has hit the ground running.
On her first official day at work (Friday) she met with the senior staff of the Ministry of Education (MoE) to outline her vision for the development of the education sector.
According to the Ministry of Education’s Public Relations Department, Minister Manickchand had discussions with the Permanent Secretary (PS) Mr Alfred King, the Deputy Permanent Secretaries for Finance and Administration, the Director of NCERD, the Superintendent of Examination, the Chief Planning Officer, the Head of the Buildings Unit and other senior education officials.
After taking the oath of office at the Arthur Chung Conference Center on Thursday evening, Manickchand said her top priority would be to consider the safe reopening of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have to balance children’s right to be educated with our duty to make sure we protect the people we’ve sworn to serve,” Manickchand told media operatives.
Manickchand explained that she will examine best practices around the world regarding the reopening of schools amid the pandemic to determine what solution would be best for Guyana.
She noted that the task is not going to be easy but she is committed to working hard to ensure children’s education is not in jeopardy.
Schools have been closed in Guyana since March due to the pandemic. However, schools have only briefly opened to facilitate key exams for primary and secondary pupils.
Manickchand had served as Minister of Education under the previous Peoples Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration before it lost power in 2015.
