MOE Strategic Plan 2003-2007

Part 1: Methodology and Framework

The process of formulating the strategic plan was designed as a participatory experience. The Ministry of Education was committed to having all levels of the education system and all stakeholders participate in and contribute to the evolution of a plan which would define the general direction and activities that the Ministry would assume for the period ahead.

The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) directed the process, supported by the international consultant specifically commissioned for the task. A Planning Unit Task Team (PUTT) was created to perform the technical work which the process required.

The major steps in developing the plan, some of which ran parallel to each other, began inside the MoE with discussions on strategic versus nominal planning, following which the process of clarifying the organisational mission and values of the MoE and the education sector began.

The MoE then started an analysis of the present situation of the Ministry. PUTT members participated in developing assessments of the different levels of the system. Another major contribution was the final report from the MacRae - Mason Development firm which evaluated the performance of the Ministry in relation to Education Development Plan (1995 – 2000). The 12 members of the PUTT and the 16 members of the SPC also took part in a SWOT session designed to complete this assessment process.

Once the mission and mandates of the MoE had been redefined and the situation of the Ministry and the education sector as a whole had been analysed, it was possible to identify the strategic issues of the MoE. Again, PUTT members made the first attempt, producing a list of 13 issues. This product was analysed by other officers of the Ministry and by the SPC. The second draft was then taken to the regions in the first phase of the consultation process.

Wider SWOT sessions involving the SPC, other members of the MoE and Regional Education Officers (RedOs) further developed the analysis of strengths and weaknesses in the system and the opportunities and threats it faced.

In a second round of meetings in the regions, participants were asked to formulate strategies to best face the challenges of the education sector. Again, with hundreds of participants from all over the country, many options were proposed: these are summarised at Appendix 1. Following a parallel process, 13 strategy development groups were formed in Georgetown with 80 persons, selected as national experts, participating in a similar task: these groups took the proposals by the communities into account. Many valuable ideas were developed during this effort, completely based on voluntary participation. In the final phase of regional consultations, a draft plan outlining viable options for the Ministry to pursue was taken back to selected groups in the regions for their comments.

The consultation meetings were organised to bring a wide cross-section of stakeholders’ voices into the strategic planning process, with parents being specifically invited. As shown below, the activities were divided into three phases:

Table 1: Phases of the consultation meetings

Phase	Meetings	Objective
First	11 regional meetings (including Georgetown)	To discuss the strategic issues proposed by the MoE and identify the major challenges of the MoE.
Second	11 regional meetings (including Georgetown)1 meeting with represen-tatives of civil society and other units of the Government)	To give stakeholders an opportunity to suggest strategies that would enable MoE to successfully face the challenges identified as strategic issues.
Third	11 regional meetings (including Georgetown)	To allow a selected group in each meeting to analyse the document.
Total	34 meetings	To formulate a strategic plan in a participatory process.

Participants in each region were invited through their local authorities, and each regional office was responsible for the coordination of the meeting in its region. During the encounters, each lasting at least two hours, there was a fruitful exchange of views, and the general impression was that people in the regions were very receptive and willing to participate in the efforts being made to improve the schools. The agenda of the meetings followed these general lines:

Table 2: Agenda of the consultations

Time	Activity
4:00 pm	Introduction of participants. Explanation of the objectives of the meeting.
4:30	Outline of the strategic planning process and the issues to be considered.
5:00	Group discussions.
5:50 – 6.15	General sessions: presentation of the results of the groups.

The meeting with representatives from civil society and other units of the Government (see Table 1 above) served a dual purpose: one, to provide these sectors with an opportunity to contribute to the development of the strategic plan of the MoE, and two, to provide the MoE with an opportunity to be in contact with the sectors and to make its views known to them.

By the end of the whole process, the Ministry of Education had developed more than a written plan; it had developed a system designed to face the challenges of the future, fully capable of adapting to any changes which might become necessary during these years. At the completion of the plan period, the system will be rolled over into the next planning cycle, permitting the Ministry to build on the successes of these five years.

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B. OVERVIEW OF THE EDUCATION SECTOR

Since 1966, there have been four discernible phases in the evolution of the education system:

Table 3: Phases in the development of the education system

1966 – 1976	Development of an indigenous curriculum.Expansion of educational opportunities.
1976 – 1990	Free education.Extension of access to educational opportunity.
1990 – 1995	Equality of access.Increase in capacity to meet manpower requirements for future economic development.
1995 – 2000	Free quality education from nursery to age 16 (Basic Education).

Within these phases, following almost universal trends in the region, Guyana’s educational effort has had three major emphases.

1. Free Access to Formal Education for All

Compulsory education was introduced in 1876 by the colonial government, and in 1976, a century later, the commitment to free education was ratified by the government of independent Guyana. The national policy has long been to offer children, young people and other interested persons the opportunity to participate in the educational process free of cost.

Education is now compulsory for children aged five years and nine months to 15 years. However, children are expected to remain in secondary school and/or community high school until they are at least 16 years old, although there are only three years of compulsory secondary education.

In most of the education system, access in itself is not a great problem. Statistics show a high level of coverage in the nursery and primary schools, with a significant increase in secondary institutions. This is a signal achievement for a poor country whose population, though small, is distributed over a large land mass. There is room for improvement, but the data on general access are encouraging, although qualifications have to be made to the raw figures.

Table 4: Percentage coverage at each level

Level	Pct. coverage in each level
	1994-95	1996-97	1999-00
Nursery	89	94	101
Primary	98	104	101
Secondary	39	67	75

At the post-secondary level, there has been an expansion in continuing education. In particular, in the Georgetown area, the opportunities for school dropouts and slow learners to access technical and other types of programmes are increasing.

2. Equity in Education

The goal of equity in education is to provide all citizens of Guyana, and especially those of school age, with an educational experience of comparable quality. This is not an easy task, and the results of recent efforts are not as positive as they have been in the area of coverage. In many developing and even developed countries, the most sophisticated services are found in urban centres, as compared to rural areas where the population is almost always at a disadvantage. Guyana is no exception. Following historical trends in the country, most of the population, infrastructure, services and resources have been concentrated in the coastal area, particularly in Georgetown. Further, the geography of the country makes it difficult to travel and communicate with the relatively isolated communities of the interior. The educational and other services provided to hinterland and deep riverain regions are clearly below national standards.

The education of children with special needs also demands urgent attention. Although there have been policy proposals, there is no clear direction, and efforts to provide services are far from being adequate.

3. Quality of Education

The State Paper on Education Policy (1995) presents the mission of the Ministry as providing “equal access to all Guyanese children and young people to quality education” , but officials from the Ministry and members of civil society are deeply worried about the situation in this area. As the civil society representatives put it in the NDS:

[A] Number of economic and social factors… have led to a most unsatisfactory and unacceptable state of affairs: learning rates in the schools are extremely low; a large proportion of the teaching force is unqualified and untrained; absenteeism on the part of both teachers and students is rife; and textbooks and other instructional materials are often unavailable.

Guyana’s success in attaining universal access to primary schools… has been eroded and has been replaced by rising repetition and drop out rates. Moreover [there are] alarmingly high levels of functional illiteracy.

In addition to the results of external examinations (which, although improving, are still low), there are other worrisome evaluations of the quality of education in Guyana. The following is an example:

Primary education is not enough for young adults who have to meet the demands of today’s world. The educational offering of the CHS [Community High School] is inadequate. A good secondary education is perhaps the minimum requirement, even though it appears that it is from a tertiary level of education that young adults are most likely to acquire the level of functional literacy… This, however, is probably a function of the erosion of quality in the lower levels of the education system…”

The reasons for the poor quality of educational services in the country are many. A prolonged period of financial constraints and budget cuts has had many adverse results. A widespread lack of motivation, and perhaps even the growth of a certain culture of acceptance of prevailing conditions, have contributed to the development of many undesirable conditions in classrooms and schools. These are outlined in the next section.

The publication of the 1990 – 1995 and the 1995 – 2000 plans provides evidence of the Ministry’s efforts to take a structured approach to improving educational services. These documents created the necessary platform to develop a culture of planning in the Ministry and effective terms of reference for officials in the Ministry to carry out the tasks of implementation and evaluation.

There have been significant areas of success in more recent years, many of which were outlined in the external evaluation performed in 2000. But clearly, much remains to be done.

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C. ANALYSIS OF THE SECTOR

In the 1960’s, Guyana’s educational system was considered one of the best in the Caribbean. Today, it is considered one of the weakest, although some recovery has been achieved in the last few years: the series of Educational Development Plans produced since 1990 have helped to direct that recovery effort. In each of the areas analysed below, there are both strengths and weaknesses.

1. The National Political Environment and the Availability of Resources

The political environment is favourable to improvements in education. The Government has emphatically declared and demonstrated its willingness to allocate increasing amounts of the national budget to education. The sector has been identified as a national priority and a major component in national development in both the National Development Strategy (NDS) and the Guyana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS). One of the developmental strategies identified in the NDS and the GPRS is an increase in the level of resources allocated to education. Developmental targets such as the abolition of poverty, the increased acceptance of diversity, and gender equality contribute to the high emphasis on education.

With the rise in the level of funds available to the sector, many new schools have been built and improvements have been made in others. In general, the level of infrastructure in the system has been upgraded. Inputs such as books and learning materials reach the schools in greater numbers, although there are still inadequacies in areas such as Music and Art Education.

But complaints concerning insufficient resources remain. Moreover, growing social concerns over AIDS and other health problems could lead to future reductions in budgetary allocations to education. This is important, since the percentage of the national budget allocated to education, although rising, has remained below the sum necessary to cover all educational needs.

Good economic performance is critical to securing more resources for education. When society cannot provide the new generation with opportunities to work and develop, motivation in schools is more difficult and dropout rates generally increase.

2. The International Environment

The international environment is also favourable to prioritising education. The World Conference on Education for All (EFA) held in Dakar, Senegal in 2000 saw international agencies, e.g., the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), commit themselves to supporting the efforts of developing countries to achieve the goals established by the Conference (see Box 1). These goals are also supported by bilateral aid agencies, especially the G8 countries, which have poverty reduction as a major focus of their donor policy and link poverty reduction to education.

Box 1: Goals established at Dakar

Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vunerable and disadvantaged children. Ensure that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances, and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and are able to complete education that is free, compulsory and of good quality. Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programmes. Achieve a 50 per cent improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults. Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2015, and achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls’ full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality. Improve all aspects of the quality of education so that recognised and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills.

There is also an increasing number of regional activities, such as those organised by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Organisation of American States (OAS), which allow countries to work together and learn from each other. Another example is the Regional Early Childhood Association. International associations which can provide a place for discussion and elaboration of important educational topics are also a source of significant contributions.

Because of the funding and cooperation available to Guyana, national and international experts have been able to contribute to the formulation of many innovative strategies and concepts that can be of great use in the future. Pilot projects are a valuable source of new ideas and are being used as testing grounds for creative initiatives.

The development of so many channels of international exchange of information and knowledge also provides valuable opportunities to increase the capabilities and options of the educational sector. Today, there is ready access to almost all the ideas and initiatives emerging globally, no matter how far away, through the electronic media.

However, while much of this is encouraging, there are also reasons for concern. The availability of international support, in itself an opportunity, can become a threat. International agencies, with the best of intentions, often have strong views on the policies and types of programmes countries need. Developing countries like Guyana can be pressured to accept these policies. As a result, the involvement of these agencies can, to some extent, change the country’s planning process, and place stress on its administrative structure. There is also a danger of the country taking non-sustainable strategic options that can be harmful in the long run.

3. Collaboration on the Work of the Sector

There is an increasingly cooperative inter-sectoral environment, with collaboration now more likely to occur among Ministries such as Education, Health, and Culture, Youth and Sport. Overall, there is a willingness to move to a sector-wide approach, which can foster more and better cooperation among all actors in education.

In spite of this, there is still some dissonance between the MoE and agencies such as the Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the Public Service Ministry (PSM), which have overarching national responsibilities. This can sometimes lead to problems, for example, less efficient allocation of funds, bottlenecks in the award of contracts, and delays in filling important positions within the MoE. In addition, the existing differences in priorities between the Regional Democratic Councils and the Regional Education Departments and even the MoE itself, can lead to problems in planning and budgeting.

As far as collaboration between the MOE and non-government forces is concerned, there are fairly strong indications that the private sector and other parts of civil society are willing to work with the Ministry to develop policies and implement programmes that can generate a more qualified work force. The level of attendance at the regional consultations and the keen participation of those attending suggested a resurgence of awareness of the importance of learning and personal development. Consciousness of the need to have community and parents’ involvement in the schools has risen significantly, and an effort has been made to structure this involvement through the creation of School Improvement Action Committees (SIACs). However, there is still concern about vandalism and/or a lack of support for protection of the schools in some communities.

4. Management Issues

A great deal of work and thought has gone into the analysis and improvement of the management procedures, organisational structure and culture of the Ministry of Education; several consultants have been involved in this work. As part of this, a significant effort has been made to analyse jobs and to give staff a clear understanding of their duties. In general, there are very good relationships between supervisors and other staff. But major improvements are still needed in order to make the MoE the efficient and effective agency required to provide the leadership necessary to improve the educational system. Following are three areas of concern:

a). Access to new technology in the management of the education system (as in the schools themselves) is limited. While the Ministry has recognised the necessity of introducing more technology in its daily management and some steps have been made in this direction, much remains to be done.

b). Another negative element is the tendency to look more at the present than to plan for the future. Crisis management has become too prevalent. There are complaints that work is not evenly distributed and that an overwhelming amount of time is spent in meetings which have no real output.

c). Other complaints revolve around the lack of a research culture and the unavailability of current literature in the Ministry. There is also a perception that the Ministry itself does not function as a learning organisation.

5. Personnel Issues

On the positive side, teacher training programmes have been upgraded and innovative delivery has increased access. Initiatives in secondary and primary schools to improve commitment and planning at the school level are evident .

On the negative side, due to the relatively low salaries that still prevail, poor working conditions, competition from other sources and a relatively early age for retirement, there is a shortage of well-qualified and experienced staff at all levels of MoE departments, regional departments and schools. In some cases, positions have remained open because it has not been possible to find adequately qualified candidates.

In particular, the demand for trained teachers and other professionals in the Caribbean region and other countries threatens the availability of well-trained staff to Guyana’s education system. The present attrition rate for teachers from Guyana is high and appears to be rising with aggressive recruitment by other countries. The growth of private education could also become a source of competition in the recruitment of qualified teachers: this is another factor that could contribute to the shortage of qualified teachers in public schools.

As regards MoE staff, the Ministry can count on a strong commitment to education on the part of some employees even in difficult circumstances. Well-qualified staff, including both young and experienced, are often self-motivated and show flexibility and adaptability to different situations. However, among some younger staff members, motivation to grow and develop is low because they perceive that better qualifications do not always lead to promotion: since the Ministry does not yet have a structured human resources programme, the result is both the perception and reality of a lack of opportunity for younger staff to develop.

Finally, there is also understaffing in support institutions such as the National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD).

In summary, the Ministry faces many challenges, but it is not impossible to overcome them. Strong political will is required to make the changes required to meet the high expectations of improvement in the education system. Hesitancy or delay will result in widespread disappointment.

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D. EXISTING INITIATIVES AND THEIR RELATION TO THE 2003-2007 PLAN

The efforts made to upgrade education in Guyana through the projects and programmes carried out in recent years have produced a body of experience and lessons learned. Initiatives include the Primary Education Improvement Project (PEIP), the Guyana Basic Education Teacher Training (GBET), the Magnet Schools Project, the Secondary School Reform Project (SSRP), the Guyana Education Access Project (GEAP), the Amazon project, and the Guyana Inservice Distance Education Programme (GUIDE). A summary of some of these projects and programmes is provided at Appendix 2.

Some of the major policies in place are outlined in An Education Policy and Five Year Development Plan For Guyana (1995). Most of the policy goals in this document continue to guide the education system, but additional policies based on lessons learnt from the initiatives described above are being introduced and will guide activities during the plan period. Some of these policies have already been outlined in a number of documents (see Box 2).

Box 2: Other policy documents guiding the plan

The Non-Academic Standards of the Ministry of Education A Policy Framework for Distance Education The Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) Policy Document

The following policies can be considered major reforms which have begun to be implemented and which will be carried over into the 2003-2007 plan period.

1. Early Childhood Education

The 1995 policy goals for Early Childhood Education (ECE) remain relevant. While the target of universal ECE has almost been achieved, the emphasis will now be on ensuring access to children from very poor or very isolated communities and children with special education needs.

Work has begun on the recommendation in the 1995 Education Policy that the first two grades of primary education be conceptualised as an integral part of ECE. Students entering the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE) can pursue an option in ECE which allows them to teach either at the nursery level or in the first two grades of primary school. The curriculum for nursery and early primary will undergo further revision so that the foundation for early literacy is laid at this level.

2. Primary Education

a). Functional Literacy: At the primary level, the major emphasis will be on improving the quality of education, in particular, on ensuring that basic functional literacy is acquired by the end of primary schooling. A new methodology to teach literacy will be introduced into the system, based on the adaptation of successful practices used in Guyana and other countries, and including regular assessment, school-based and national, to ascertain the students’ progress.

b). The Use of Inter-Active Radio Instruction: The highly successful method of interactive radio instruction (IRI) will be used for the teaching of Mathematics, initially in the first three years of primary school. IRI will also be used to support the literacy campaign for persons in and out of school.

c). The Escuela Nueva: The Escuela Nueva (EN) programme, which has been piloted in two regions, will be extended to other hinterland communities. The Ministry will continue to systematically promote the transformation of schools into child-friendly institutions. Inherent in both of these programmes and in the HFLE programme is the promotion of life skills, the active participation of the community in the life of the school, and respect for diversity, all important policy objectives being promoted through several initiatives.

d). Foreign Language Teaching: Spanish, which was piloted in a number of schools during the last five years, will be extended to more schools across all education districts.

e). Student Assessment: An assessment policy document is being developed for all levels of the system, highlighting major changes in student assessment at the primary level in the next five years. There will be national testing at three key stages, grades 2, 4, and 6. Placement in secondary schools will no longer be based on a single examination at the end of primary school.

3. Secondary Education

a). Placement of Students: To ensure that quality education is delivered to all students, the MoE will identify secondary schools in various regions which will provide places for students from among the highest performers leaving primary school at the year of entry. Entry to the remaining secondary schools will depend on the individual student’s home address, with students being placed at a secondary school within a distance that allows them to maintain a good record of attendance. By 2005, the Government will provide access to at least five years of secondary schooling for all primary school leavers.

b). Removing Inequalities: Government remains committed to removing or significantly reducing remaining inequalities of educational and financial provision, and consequent dropout and wastage, in community high schools and secondary departments of primary schools.

c). Common Curriculum: Students will cover a common curriculum for the first three years of secondary school with extra support in Mathematics and Language Arts for weaker students. At the end of Form 3, all students will be able to choose from two elective pathways to complete their secondary education on the basis of their performance at the National Third Form Examination.

In the 4th and 5th forms all students will be offered the core subjects. Students in Pathway 1 will also do a foreign language and will then be able to choose a selection of subjects from the Expressive Arts, Humanities, and pre-vocational areas leading to the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC). In pathway 2, students will pursue studies leading to CSEC and other certification in specified skill-based vocational competencies, for progression to further training or employment. Information Technology will also be a common component in both pathways. Entry to both pathways will depend on the student’s performance in the various subject areas during Forms 1 – 3.

d). The Phasing-in of the Unitary System: The lesson of the SSRP, the GEAP and similar conversion programmes undertaken by regions without external assistance is that the change to a unitary secondary education system is challenging in two ways: in terms of (i) the funds required for physical works, materials acquisition, and the training and retraining of teachers; and (ii) the management of the change process at local, regional and central levels. The Ministry will therefore implement the proposed changes in a phased manner, starting with the community high schools and then moving to amalgamate tops of primary schools to form new secondary institutions. A loan for physical facilities already being negotiated from external sources should provide 4850 new places and 3000 rehabilitated places in secondary schools. The Ministry will, wherever possible, make use of existing facilities that can be upgraded. Specialist facilities, such as Practical Instruction Centres (PICs), will serve a cluster of schools whenever this is feasible.

4. Other

a). Class size: The Ministry is committed to making the most efficient use of its facilities and will ensure that, without depriving hinterland regions of education facilities, the standards laid down in The Non-Academic Standards of the Ministry of Education in relation to class size will be adhered to. Hinterland and deep riverain areas will have smaller classes even with the clustering of students in schools with residential facilities.

b). Special, technical and vocational education: The policies outlined for special education, technical and vocational education and teacher education in the 1995 document remain relevant. Emphasis will be placed on setting up a National Accreditation Body, a National Council for Teacher Education and a National Council For Technical and Vocational Education during this plan period.

c). Upgrading of heads: All heads will be required to be trained in administration either through the GBET or the administration option in the Bachelor of Education or Certificate of Education programmes at the University of Guyana (UG).

e). School Improvement Plans: The development of SIPs with the collaboration of parents, teachers and other stakeholders, piloted under the SSRP and GEAP projects, will be extended to schools at all levels.

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