As the Shadow Minister of Education, I am deeply concerned by the reports that have come to my attention regarding the abuse of teachers in our schools. The initial feedback I received indicates that the lack of security officers in schools within our regions is one of the contributing factors on the issue. I wish to note here for the public that approvals were given for all schools and government buildings to have 24/7 security coverage and significant sums of money were allocated in the National Assembly for this purpose. Despite these allocations, it appears that the Education Delivery Programme in several regions is failing to provide adequate security for our schools.
I call upon the Regional Executive Officers, who are all Accounting Officers in their respective regions, and the Regional Education Officers, who are the Programme Managers of the Education Delivery Programme in their respective regions, to provide answers as to why schools across Guyana are without adequate security officers, particularly during working hours. This is a serious issue, and one that cannot be ignored.
Below is the Education Delivery Programme in 2022 per budgetary cost:-
Region One has an approved budgetary sum of $75.579M for the
Region Two has an approved budgetary sum of $443.396M.
Region Three has an approved budgetary sum of $456.029M.
Region Four has an approved budgetary sum of $860.295M.
Region Five has an approved budgetary sum of $307.581M.
Region Six has an approved budgetary sum of $532.562M.
Region Seven has an approved budgetary sum of $113.441M.
Region Eight has an approved sum of $54.401M.
Region Nine has an approved sum of $72.585M.
Region Ten has an approved sum of $349.956M.
Schools in Georgetown fall directly under the Ministry of Education and were catered there for security officers.
The delivery of Education at all levels in this country is in peril because of the incompetence at the Ministry Education.
The Minister of Education should explain to this nation how and why the most senior Administrators of this Ministry have no experience and why were school teachers without the requisite qualifications and experience hand-picked to serve at the most senior level of the Ministry. It is these decisions that contribute to the lawlessness we are experiencing in our schools where the safety and security of our teachers and students are at risk.
I would also like to bring attention to a video circulating on Facebook in which a teacher from Belvedere Primary School in Region Six expresses her frustration and anger at the lack of security at her school and the prevalence of violence against teachers in her region. More recently a teacher in Region 4 was beaten by a parent in the presence of students, his colleagues and other parents and today another incident occurred in a school in the Georgetown District. It is unacceptable and must be addressed immediately.
Ministers Priya Manickchand and Nigel Dharamlall must take responsibility for the mismanagement of their ministries as we hold them accountable to the Guyanese people for the effective use of the funds allocated for the Education Delivery Programme. The question remains, where are the monies going? The safety and security of our schools and teachers must be a top priority, and I call on the government to take immediate action to address this issue.
