National training for renewed curriculum begins

(June 25, 2022) – The Ministry of Education has begun training teachers and pupils
representing a wide cross section of schools at the primary level about the renewed
curriculum. It is envisioned that the academic year 2022-2023 will see the piloted curricula for
Grades one to four expanded to all schools in Education Districts two, three, four,
five, six, 10 and Georgetown. This exercise will be phase one of the national rollout of
the curriculum. The second phase is expected to occur in the 2023-2024 academic
year in Education Districts one, seven, eight and nine.

The national training exercise began on June 21, 2022, with Master Trainers
engaging classroom educators from Grades one to four. The in-person capacity
building sessions will be held monthly with teachers in their school clusters.
Each Master Trainer will oversee a group of 25 teachers, and their capacities will be
developed around a thorough comprehension and effective application of the
renewed curriculum. The monthly meetings will occur from June 2022 to December
2022.

According to the Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource
Development, Ms. Quenita Walrond-Lewis, this process is the beginning of the end
for learners being told the nature of things rather than being able to experience it for
themselves. Further, she believes that through this process, children will no longer be
viewed and treated as the passive recipient of information but rather as an active co-
creator of their learning.

The curriculum aims to foster greater inclusivity, recognizing that each child has
unique qualities, and varied abilities which are to be respected in all learning
situations. It provides for learning using diverse, responsive, and varied instructional
strategies and caters for differentiated learning, resources and assessment.
The renewed curriculum contains several features which acknowledges Guyana’s
unique context and reflects the country’s diversity. The curriculum also gives focus to
the essential educational competencies an educated person in Guyana should
possess, such as communicating and collaborating effectively with others, possessing
proficiency in literacy and numeracy and being able to enjoy physical and socio-
emotional well-being.