New Swan Primary School commissioned as Guyana’s educational outcome lags behind Latin America/Caribbean counterparts

On Tuesday, the new $28.7 million Swan Primary School, on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway, was commissioned by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand along with Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall.

Children residing in the community will no longer need to travel to Yarrowkabra and Kuru Kururu to attend school.  There are presently 106 pupils enrolled at the primary school along with six teachers.

Minister Manickchand, in her feature address, said government’s commitment to the community will see them not only making monetary investment in infrastructure but also making sure there is monitoring to get results from the children.

“If you get Yarrowkabra Secondary you must be able to go there and get Grade Ones, Twos and Threes. That is our aim and our commitment to you.”

The World Bank, in its October 2022 Fact Sheet, stated in spite of Guyana’s financial investment in education the country lags behind its Latin American and Caribbean counterparts in outcome.

According to the Bank

“Although the education sector in Guyana has made remarkable progress in the last 15 years in terms of access, learning outcomes remain low across all levels. Guyana achieved 88 percent and 92 percent enrollment at the Nursery and Primary levels, respectively (2018). However, according to the Human Capital Index, a child born in Guyana today will only be 50 percent as productive when she grows up as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health. This is lower than the average for the LAC region and upper middle-income countries. The low human capital score is in part driven by low educational and health outcomes.

“Although the average Guyanese student is expected to complete 12.2 years of schooling, this is equivalent to only 6.8 years of learning when expressed in terms of Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS). This has been compounded by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Recent simulations indicate that, from the baseline of 6.8, Guyana risks losing 1.6 LAYS following a 13-month school closure as a result of the pandemic. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has linked Guyana’s skills shortage to its poor school enrollment and education performance rates relative to regional standards.”