The Education Ministry has announced that all public schools, except those listed as examination centres, will be closed to facilitate the conduct of Local Government Elections 2023.
LGE is slated for June 12, 2023. The Ministry, in a Memorandum of Understanding issued by Chief Education Officer Saddam Hussain, stated that this is necessary because most schools have been designated as polling stations.
Students who have been timetabled to sit the Office Administration Paper One examination on June 12 have been informed that the Caribbean Examinations Council has agreed to administer this examination on Monday June 19, 2023, instead, at 09:00h. This change relates to the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC).
Meanwhile, for the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), changes in the initial arrangements were announced for Anna Regina Secondary, West Demerara Secondary, Saraswati Vidya Niketan, President’s College, Rosignol Secondary, Berbice High School, New Amsterdam Multilateral, Christianburg/Wismar Secondary, Mackenzie High School, The Bishops’ High, Queen’s College, St Rose’s High, St Stanislaus College, Marian Academy, Chase’s Academic Foundation and Adult Education Foundation. The details are available on the Ministry’s Facebook page.
All CSEC and CAPE exams will continue as normal on Tuesday, June 13, at the originally scheduled centres.
After several delays, the long-overdue LGE was set for March 13 this year, but GECOM subsequently deferred Nominations Day in December 2022 to address issues relating to its registration exercise. This postponement was after court action was filed by Opposition-aligned persons challenging the process used to compile the List of Electors, or Voters’ List, for the impending LGE.
In February, Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall set Monday June 12, 2023, as the date for the holding of the much-anticipated and long overdue LGE in Guyana. GECOM subsequently appointed April 17 as Nominations Day.
Meanwhile, GECOM has already been in preparation mode over the past few months as it gears up for the long overdue elections. The Commission had previously indicated that its approved work plan entails, among other things, that the Elections Secretariat would immediately move to roll out a robust civic and voter education programme, appoint Electoral Registrars and Assistant Electoral Registrars, and extract the Preliminary List of Voters (PLV).
Meanwhile, there will be no voting in those Local Authority Areas (LAAs) where there is only one contestant approved.
