In a major boost for early childhood education in the hinterland, Tapakuma Village in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) on Tueaday celebrated the commissioning of its first-ever nursery school — a modern, purpose-built facility that will replace the cramped classroom space previously shared with the primary school.
Delivering the feature address at the event, Minister of Education Priya Manickchand said the new school, constructed to the tune of some $25.3 million, marks another step towards achieving universal access to nursery education in Guyana.
“We’ve always struggled with access to nursery education because of the age of the children and the distance from home to school…If a nursery school is far away, it becomes inaccessible. But in the last three and a half years even with two of those years under severe COVID-19 restrictions,we have built 67 nursery schools across Guyana,” the minister said.
The new Tapakuma Lake Nursery School, she said, was designed to accommodate 17 children.
“Many would have considered it unworthy of a separate school, but to us, each child counts. We are at the stage where we are building schools for 17 children, and that tells you we are very close to universal access,” she noted.
Minister Manickchand credited the new school to strong collaboration between the Government and local leaders. She said the project was one of the requests brought forward by Tapakuma’s Toshao at the annual National Toshaos Council Conference.
“Your Toshao came and represented you. Today, that request has been fulfilled, and this building will serve hundreds of children for years to come,” she added.
She further underscored that nursery education is not compulsory in Guyana, but expanding access remains a priority to ensure that every child, regardless of location, has the opportunity to start early learning in an environment built for their development.
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