$161 million Early Childhood Centre of Excellence commissioned

Early childhood education is on the trajectory to be transformed with the commissioning of the Early Childhood Centre of Excellence at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus.

The Early Childhood Centre of Excellence is funded by the Government and the Caribbean Development Bank, through Basic Needs Trust Fund Guyana. It creates a conducive environment for young learners to explore, grow and develop.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand in her remarks, noted that Guyana has the highest nursery enrollment rate in the Commonwealth, as such, the investment is fitting since Guyana and the Caribbean can learn from practices which will be implemented at the institution. Although Guyana has this rate the country continues to lag behind its Caribbean and Latin American counterparts on education success.

The World Bank in an October report stated:-

“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.”

The minister has acknowledged the importance of early level education and urged the Early Childhood Centre of Excellence not be viewed as just another nursery school.

UNICEF Representative, Mr Nicholas Pron expressed that UNICEF believes that the centre will not only contribute to the best start to life, it will also facilitate and foster a holistic, inclusive approach to improving early childhood development, as well as enhancing the knowledge and competencies of early childhood development practitioners, researchers, parents and other caregivers.

Meanwhile, Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed said the project was long in the making and help the university to find solutions to the challenges in the way in which children are socialised and raised.

Director of the Centre, Dr Lidon Lashley, said that the facility currently caters to 102 young learners, 26 of whom require additional education needs. He noted that each child’s need is catered to.

“And we do so in an atmosphere that embraces the Ministry of Education’s Early Childhood Curriculum but also extended it with practices and research that is done on the upper level.”

Representing the Ministry of Finance, Ms Karen Roopchand stated that it was designed as a premier centre to provide a developmentally appropriate learning environment for young children in the surrounding communities and give early childhood education students a venue to gain practical experience in the care and education of children.

The $161 million facility is equipped with all the amenities needed by learners and early childhood practitioners and caregivers. The building was also designed to accommodate differently-abled learners.