Hi everyone. Sorry for the long wait. I’ve been adjusting to my site and getting to know my community, so I have not been able to post much. I decided that it was time for a new post and what better time to talk about education than during Education Month. I just want to reemphasize that what I write is a gathering of my own research, opinions, and do not represent Guyana, their Ministry of Education, or Peace Corps.
To begin, I feel that you should know the basics of the Guyana education system. Guyana schools are run under the Ministry of Education with 11 districts (10 regions and Georgetown) that consist of private and public schools. Primary School is Grades 1st through 6th or ages 6 - 11 and Secondary School is Forms 1-5 or ages 11-16. Tests are taken at the end of the year (just like in the United States) however for Guyanese students, the Grade 6 test is super important because it ranks your ability against all other students and places you in schools for Secondary education. For those families that are super into education and “moving up” in the world, getting a high rank and placing in better Secondary Schools is a big deal. Even though these test rank kids, because of financial reasons, some kids are not able to go to schools with their “level” and instead go to local secondary schools.
When in secondary school, Forms 1 and 2 tend to be basic courses such as English, math, ect but by Form 3, 4, and 5 students have chosen “tracks” to study such as engineering, arts, teaching, business, and so on. The intent is that the student will be able to either continue to college or go straight into the work force.
The Guyana schools have 39 weeks of school with 3 terms throughout the year: Christmas Term, Easter Term, and August Term (or Finals Term). All schools have a Head Mistress or Head Master at the top. After is the Deputy Head Teacher or Assistant Head Master/Mistress. The rest of the structure is as followed on the image below with Divisional Heads, Head of Departments and Assistant Master/Mistress (generally ranked in how many years of experience) . According to the ministry there are to be no more than 35 children per class, however this is not always possible if there not enough teachers or not enough kids to form another class.
Finally, I want to quickly address the science curriculum since this is what I am going to be teaching for the next two years. In the curriculum there are 9 units covered over the year: Human Body, Animal Kingdom, Planet Kingdom, Environment, Weather, Materials, Earth and Space, Energy, and Forces. During the tests at the end of the year, the kids must answer multiple choice questions, answer short questions and write essays. My hope is that over the two years that I am in my community I will be able to spark interest of science into these kids so that they all go off to do great things in (and for) the world.
