The Ministry of Education lead by Minister of Education Priya Manickchand over the past few days met with Grade Six teachers and parents of Grade Six students from the 11 education districts (Regions 1 to 10 and Georgetown) regarding the writing of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) 2021.
They were engaged in separate Zoom meetings and told of what the Ministry has done and how their children will be assisted to write the NGSA on August 4th and 5th 2021 and the mock examinations to be held on June 9th and 10th and in July 2021.
The first mock examination will be treated as a practice examination for students and a diagnostic examination for teachers who have not seen their children for over a year.
The students have the option of writing the first mock examination in school under strict COVID-19 protocols or have the examination papers uplifted from their respective schools, completed at home and returned to the school to be marked by the teacher.
Additionally, parents can decide that their child will not write this examination at all.
Considering the national situation regarding major flooding in the regions, the examination can also be written on other dates but as close as possible to the scheduled dates.
The Ministry is also working on a solution that would allow students to take the paper one aspect of the mock examinations online using a platform provided by the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Education is hopeful that the second mock examination can be held in schools under strict examination guidelines to provide all students with the examination experience before sitting the NGSA in August in their respective schools.
Parents and teachers were also told that it is not mandatory for students to be dressed in their school uniform when writing the mock examinations and the NGSA. However, students must be appropriately dressed and there must be no writing printed on their clothing.
Meanwhile, the Ministry has executed several initiatives to assist our Grade Six students and teachers as they prepare for this year’s examination. These initiatives include creating a consolidated curriculum, launching the NGSA Booster Programme and the Quiz Me Platform available on our website.
The Ministry has also distributed to every Grade Six student in the public school system a study package containing notes, textbooks and workbooks to help each child prepare.
All the materials contained in this package that was produced by the Ministry of Education are available on our website at: www.education.gov.gy.
Further, to make our website more accessible, the Ministry has collaborated with Digicel and GTT to have our website zero-rated. This means that there is no charge to your data when accessing our website and the resources.
Over the coming days, each student will receive a Care Package containing face masks, vitamin support, hand sanitizer and stationery items to be used when writing their two-day examination. Teachers will also receive a Care Package containing face masks, face shield, vitamin support and hand sanitizer.
During the meetings, Minister Manickchand also encouraged parents and teachers to get vaccinated so that they can protect themselves and their loved ones from the effects of COVID-19. She said that the more Guyanese that are vaccinated, the sooner the country can return to some form of normalcy.
The Ministry of Education will continue to engage in similar consultative exercises to ensure our stakeholders are properly informed and given a chance to be a part of the decision-making process.
