Ministry of Education celebrates 40 years of nursery education in Guyana

Nursery Education in Guyana has come a long way and the Ministry of Education has restated its efforts geared at its continued advancement.

Today the ministry celebrated the 40^th Anniversary of nursery education under the theme “Investing in Quality Nursery Education for Successful lifelong Learning.”

During a simple ceremony at the Roxanne Burnham Nursery School,  Miss Ingrid Trotman; Assistant Chief Education Officer-Nursery giving an overview of the development of nursery education in Guyana disclosed that there are now 26, 500 pupils enrolled at the Nursery level.

There are currently 1,700 nursery teachers, three of whom are males. She informed that there is a 90 to 95 percent attendance of parents at PTA meetings, noting that parental involvement at the nursery level is exceptional. She outlined several plans of the Ministry, including a new school in Mocha/Arcadia, EBD and greater monitoring and evaluation.

Chief Education Officer, acting Mr. Marcel Hutson in his remarks said while nursery education has come a long way, there is a fundamental belief that much qualification is not needed to acquire a teaching job at the nursery level.

On the contrary, Hutson said this is the most critical developmental stage in a child’s life; hence nursery education should not be treated as a joke. He alluded to a number of skills that children acquire through nursery education, among them time management, with the most critical being phonological awareness.

Hutson underscored that children learn to develop self esteem at the nursery level first, hence the need for an enabling environment that facilitates the smooth transition to the primary level.

Communication is also a skill that should be fostered at this stage of learning, Hutson pointed out.