National effort needed to arrest decline in educational standards
Spending more on education can raise standards, Minister of Education Dr Henry Jeffrey says, but whe
Stabroek News
February 18, 2004
In a world environment where development is increasingly becoming knowledge-based, alarm bells are being sounded about the country's education system.
Some of the ongoing criticisms are of the quality of tertiary level education, particularly with regard to graduates of the University of Guyana (UG) and the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). Others place the blame at the level of the secondary schools from where those who UG and CPCE have to work with graduate.
Critics trace the decline in educational standards to the ground breaking declaration by the Burnham administration in 1976 to provide free education from nursery to university, which it was ill-prepared to implement and sustain at an acceptable level. Pursuant to this decision all private schools run by the churches and others were taken over by the state. In fact, by the end of the Hoyte administration in 1992, there were policy decisions to introduce fees at the level of UG and to not discourage the establishment of private secondary schools.
The Constitution has now enshrined the right to set up private schools and there has been a virtual explosion of private schools, which offer tuition at the primary and secondary levels. There are also a private university and a private offshore medical school offering pre-clinical courses.
Mae's Schools - Its examination results indicate what can be achieved with adequate resources
The major problem was the general economic decline, which caused major cuts in the social services; education being no exception. Today some 18 per cent of GDP goes to the social services; in 1992 it was only about five per cent of a smaller GDP. Private schools still only account for less than one per cent of the school population.
The current problem - lack of resources
There is no dispute that even with the constitutional provision requiring the state to provide free education up to the secondary level, no administration - whether now or in the past - could afford to provide it to the required standard, given the state of the economy then and now. Minister of Education Dr Henry Jeffrey sees the lack of resources as the root of all the ills that beset the system. He points out that though Guyana makes a great national effort in terms of its expenditure (about eight per cent of GDP) on education, given the size of our GDP this translates into a small sum and is clearly insufficient when placed against the government's aspirations.
There are programmes being implemented to make the best use of the available resources to address some of the ills that have been identified. These programmes are included in the ministry's strategic plan that was drawn up in consultation with the administrative regions and other stakeholders. The individual regions have responsibility for implementing their own plans, which are outcomes of the national plan with region specific inputs. The ministry has responsibility for developing and monitoring the implementation of the strategic plans of the various regions.
National effort
Dr Jeffrey tells Current Affairs that the government spends US$175/G$35,000 annually on each child. But he notes that the amount spent by Trinidad and Tobago is about US$900/$180,000 while Barbados spends about US$2,000/$400,000. However, while in terms of percentage Guyana spends a greater part of its GDP than its Caricom neighbours, its per capita GDP is only US$860 compared to Barbados where it was US$9,750 in 2002.
For that reason, Dr Jeffrey says he finds comparisons of Guyana's results with other Caricom states at the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) - Caribbean Secondary Certificate Examination and other examinations useful only as a guide to what could be achieved with more resources.
As an example he cites the results of some of the private schools at the 2001 CXC examinations. In English, the pass rate for the Caribbean in grades 1-3 was 53.7 per cent and for Guyana as a whole it was 34.5 per cent. But the pass rate of students presented by Mae's and School of the Nations were respectively 65.5 per cent and 77.8 per cent. At Bishops' and Queen's College which cull the top performers at the Secondary Schools Entrance Examination (SSEE), the results were 99.2 per cent and 96.8 per cent respectively.
In Mathematics, the Caribbean results for grades 1-3 were 38.3 per cent, and for Guyana as a whole 23.1 per cent. But the results of the candidates presented by Mae's and School of the Nations respectively were 85.7 per cent and 54.6 per cent. The results for Queen's College and Bishops' were 89.2 per cent and 86.1 per cent respectively.
Thus for Jeffrey, looking at the results obtained by the private secondary schools which do not have all the bright students, but rather those whose parents can afford the fees, there is a direct relationship between resources and outcome.
Teachers' pay
Another aspect of the problem is the remuneration teachers receive. Jeffrey explains that international standards for our category of poor country require that the annual average salary for a trained teacher, after about five years of service, be about three times the per capita income of the country. In Guyana, this translates to about $41,000 per month.
On acquiring his/her trained teachers' certificate, a teacher's starting salary is $38,000 per month. It may be useful to note that in the USA the average pay of a teacher is about 1.5 times the per capita income and the top teaching salary is about US$90,000 (2.2 times the per capita income) per annum. Guyana's top teaching professionals receive $93,000 per month and this translates to some 6.5 times the per capita income.
While the minister's contention may be valid, critics point out that the teachers who do not migrate will not take kindly to the marginalisation of the Guyana Teachers' Union (GTU) as a result of the government imposing wage increases unilaterally. Government has imposed wage increases two years running, at sums substantially below what the GTU was asking for.
Jeffrey agrees that this type of unilateral imposition is unhealthy, but claims that the GTU must take some of the blame. In his opinion the union's approach to the negotiations is not sufficiently meaningful and timely.
He contends that even though government believes teachers should be better remunerated than they are at the moment, one must look at other "non-financial" incentives such as the provision of house lots. He said there is an ongoing collaboration between the Ministry of Housing and the GTU and he understands that although there is a problem with the availability of land in Region Four, some accommodation has been reached in Region Ten and the discourse continues.
However, Jeffrey is unconvinced that the provision of house lots is a sufficient incentive to keep the more experienced teachers at home. He explains that to build their homes on the lots they have been allocated the teachers would need money, and this would be an additional push factor for them to migrate.
Accountability
Another problem Jeffrey identifies is the lack of accountability in the system, not only at the level of the schools but at the level of the ministry as well. He contends that there is no proper performance appraisal of teachers which would link their performance to the level of remuneration they receive. But he contends that this defect is one from which the entire public service suffers.
Another aspect of the problem he says is the way in which the management staff (headmasters and heads of departments) of schools is appointed.
He feels the criteria place too much emphasis on length of service rather than on performance. To be appointed to head a Grade B school, a teacher must have been the head of a Grade C school. To be appointed the head of an A school, one must have been the head of a B school and so on.
Jeffrey says he intends to encourage the Teaching Service Commission to adopt a more appropriate performance-based
appointment system.
Lack of accountability also manifests itself in the high rate of absenteeism, which is some 30 per cent of the available school days. This he describes as alarming, given the amount of time teachers are officially off from school. To address this, Jeffrey says his ministry is drafting new performance appraisals methods and the various recommendations his ministry provides would be based on the teacher's record over the previous three years.
Exodus of teachers
The exodus of trained and experienced teachers impacts negatively on the education system. As a consequence, the ministry is faced with upgrading the performance of those teachers who may be trained but lack the necessary experience to perform optimally, as well as those who may have experience but are untrained. It is estimated that some 250 teachers migrate annually.
It is estimated that teachers spend about 12 years accumulating the experience and competency which enhance their recruitment value overseas. Jeffrey says the aim is to enable the teacher to reach an increased level of competency over a shorter period of time through distance education and in-service training, upgrading and support programmes. The idea is to attempt to achieve a 12-year level of competency in about eight years.
Two of the programmes through which this is being done are the Guyana Basic Edu-cation Teacher Training (GBET) and the Guyana In-Service Distance Education (GUIDE). GBET focuses on strengthening the system for in-service teacher training and was initially intended to impact on approximately 1,000 unqualified teachers in mainly hinterland areas of Regions One, Two, Seven , Eight and Nine.
Because of the large number of unqualified teachers in the remote hinterland and riverain areas, the project lays emphasis on enabling the teacher-training institute to develop a distance education capacity to offer the certificate in-service programme through a combination of print-based learning modules, local tutorials and a summer session that is classroom-based.
GUIDE provides in-service, school-based training for untrained, unqualified practicing teachers using a mix of distance education methods and face-to-face sessions with tutors. The successful teachers are eligible for admission to the CPCE or in-service teacher certificate programmes. Current Affairs understands that the project was piloted in Regions Five and Seven in 1997 and now involves some 400 teachers in Regions Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten. Two hundred of this batch of teachers have already graduated and there is now an effort to amalgamate the GBET and GUIDE programmes.
Under the World Bank Fast Track Initiative (WBFTI), attention is being given to improving the quality of the hinterland teachers, promoting continuous professional development for all trained teachers, establishing satellite learning centres for teachers within a school cluster, improving the conditions of service for teachers and supporting those qualified teachers in the hinterland using the GBET distance education approach.
The WBFTI will also provide for the payment of about $4,000 a month remote area allowance to be paid to teachers in the hinterland.
Jeffrey notes that though Guyana spends on average about US$175 a year on each student, the average for hinterland students is about US$225. "Even with this expenditure," he says, "given the cost associated with educational delivery in the hinterland, the government would need to further increase the expenditure on the hinterland student to provide some measure of equity."
At present, only about 70% of eligible students attend acceptable secondary schools and the ministry is set to achieve universal secondary education during this plan period. Two projects are aimed at improving the quality of secondary education: the Secon-dary Schools Reform Programme (SSRP) and the Guyana Education Access Project (GEAP). The former provided for curriculum reform, the acquisition of equipment and teaching/learning materials (including textbooks), teacher training and institutional strengthening of the ministry in particular the area of management information systems.
The latter, funded by a grant from the United Kingdom's Department for Interna-tional Development, targeted some 3,000 students, the majority of whom are under-achieving males in Regions Six and Ten. GEAP focused on improving post-primary education and providing for the upgrading of infrastructure, equipment and school management, strengthening both literacy and numeracy skills and preparing the students for the world of work.
Infrastructure
There is still a significant shortage of secondary places and Jeffrey says the ministry has to begin looking at how to more effectively use school buildings and the introduction of a shift system which would increase usage of schools beyond the five/six hours per day that they are currently being used. This, he says, is an option his ministry is considering.
He says the policy is still being formulated as to how the schools will be managed, with consideration being given to having one set of managers supervise all the shifts or to having separate sets of managers and teachers for each shift. Shift systems are in use in Brazil, where classes go until 11 pm each day, as well as in Cuba.
Jeffrey acknowledges that more schools have to be built and rehabilitated and points out that under the SSRP some 29 schools were rehabilitated including 17 that were non-pilot schools. Also, he says, the Basic Education Access Management Support (BEAMS) project provides for two sets of 11 schools to be built or rehabilitated.
Textbooks and teaching aids
Jeffrey identifies the provision of textbooks and teaching aids as a major problem at the primary and secondary levels. He says the WBFTI provides US$4 million for the provision of textbooks and teaching aids over two years and this, together with what the government provides, should ease the problem.
Increasing community involvement
Jeffrey sees community involvement in the management of schools as key to improving education delivery, as it will make the education system more accountable, enhance parental support for the individual child and allow teachers to concentrate on teaching and be less involved in raising funds for the schools. A circular from the ministry now stipulates that school boards and/or Parent Teachers' Associations (PTAs) must be responsible for the raising and managing of funds for schools. An additional benefit, he says, will be the reduction of complaints the ministry will receive against teachers alleging impropriety about the use of funds.
Jeffrey says the WBFTI and the BEAMS projects would provide resources to the boards to do minor repairs to schools and what has to be finalised is whether or not the funds will be provided as grants, thus eliminating the need for elaborate auditing requirements.
Among the objectives of the WBFTI is the acceleration of the implementation of school improvement plans in all schools and upgrading the school-feeding programme in the hinterland.
Technical and vocational education
In terms of technical and vocational education Jeffrey explained that the Caribbean Development Bank had provided US$8 million to improve technical instruction centres and legislation will soon be tabled to establish a Technical and Vocational Education Council to plan and monitor this sector.
Over the years the ministry has organised programmes that focus on management training for principals and their line management staff, the provision of pedagogical training for tutorial staff and upgrading the curriculum of TVET institutions. It also implemented a distance education programme for training technical teachers and developed model computer education in computer-aided design and machining.
Three weeks ago the ministry introduced the Basic Competency Certificate Programme (BCCP) which aims at ensuring that when the child leaves school he/she has some job or further education entry-level skill. The programme is being piloted at six model schools, but depending upon the resources at their disposal, schools can gradually buy into the programme and increase their offering.
The BCCP will also be used as an after-school model to capture those persons who left school without a skill and the capacity to earn a decent living.