Region Five gets 2 Nursery Schools

The Honourable Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, officially commissioned the No.8 Nursery School and Hopetown Nursery School at Region Five on Monday, marking another significant stride toward quality nursery education.

These two facilities represent a combined investment of $175 million and will directly benefit over 120 children and their families by providing safe, purpose-built environments designed to foster early learning and development.

The No.8 Nursery School, built at a cost of $85 million, is now home to 41 children, supported by a team of five fully trained teachers. For years, these pupils and teachers were accommodated under the bottom house of the No.8 Primary School. Today, they are moving into a modern, child-friendly building equipped with the resources needed to deliver high-quality early childhood education.

The Hopetown Nursery School, which cost $90 million, will serve 80 children with the support of nine trained teachers. This new structure replaces an aging wooden building that had housed nursery classes for decades. With its new design, the school now offers a safer, more spacious, and comfortable environment for teaching and learning.

In her address, Minister Manickchand reflected on the journey to making nursery education more accessible, noting that while nursery schooling in Guyana is not compulsory, enrolment rates have climbed significantly as access has expanded.

“Before this school opened, your children would have been under the bottom house at Number Eight Primary. That was an education, but it wasn’t optimal. It wasn’t a special school, a special space that would allow us to do the kind of work we want to do with your children at this level,” the Minister said.

“Although nursery education is not compulsory in Guyana, we know that parents are hungry and thirsty for their children to start learning early — and to learn from trained teachers so they can get the best. Today, about 93% of children at the nursery age are enrolled, up from about 85% just five years ago. That improvement happened because we built schools. Access has always been the biggest barrier,” she emphasized.

Minister Manickchand further pointed out that many hinterland communities struggled in the past because sending young children to distant schools often meant unsafe travel by river or long walks. She explained that this government’s infrastructure investments are deliberately designed to eliminate those barriers.

The Minister reminded attendees that these achievements came despite the unprecedented challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic:

“Over the last three and a half years, we have built 67 nursery schools across Guyana — the highest number ever constructed in such a short period. And I say three and a half years deliberately because for almost two of those years, the country was under lockdown. Schools were closed, and construction sites could not operate because we were trying to keep people safe from a virus we didn’t fully understand. Despite that, we made this possible,” Minister Manickchand said.

She described the current programme as a historic investment in early childhood education that will have long-term benefits for the nation’s development.

Assistant Chief Education Officer (Nursery), Mr. Devendre Persaud, underscored the transformative impact of these investments:

“Nursery education plays a vital role in laying the foundation for lifelong learning and development. During these early years, children develop essential cognitive, social, emotional, and motor skills that shape their future academic success and personal growth. A quality nursery programme fosters curiosity, creativity, and communication while helping children build confidence, independence, and positive relationships,” Mr. Persaud said.

He explained that these new schools provide a structured yet nurturing environment, preparing children for a smooth transition into primary school and beyond.

The commissioning of these Nursery schools reflects the Ministry of Education’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that every child in Guyana has access to quality education from the earliest years. These projects not only provide children with safe and conducive learning environments but also represent an investment in the nation’s human capital; one of the most critical drivers of Guyana’s future prosperity.