The Ministry of Education (MOE) is poised to employ a curriculum renewal within Guyana’s education sector; a curriculum renewal aimed at incorporating social inclusion and gender informed approaches.
Representatives of the World Bank, the MOE and the initiative’s project team met on Tuesday at the office of the World Bank to discuss the implementation of the Guyana Education Sector Improvement Project (GESIP), as it relates to the Curriculum Renewal process.
The Curriculum Reform Process Document, which will contain the terms of reference to guide curriculum writers, will be submitted at the end of the week. The project team intends to engage candidates for curriculum writing by November as members of the team have been working assiduously to record information, ideas and recommendations that will improve the efficacy of the process.
The MOE recognizes the need for input on this implementation and as such, a consultation exercise will be done to engage the membership and leadership of the Guyana’s Teachers’ Union.
Students of the nursery, primary and secondary (up to grade nine) levels will be targeted. Under the pilot implementation phase, schools from the rural areas will be matched against the urban areas and hinterland against the coastland areas. The process promises immense capacity building and training for teachers, educators and officers within the Ministry.
The Integrated Curriculum Reform, which has a budget of US$6.03 million, will achieve its goal of improving student achievement at all levels by implementing a phased revision of the curriculum.
A revision not just based on what students are taught, but the way in which they are taught as well. This revised edition seeks to emphasize on interactive, student-centered pedagogies, social inclusion and gender informed approaches.
Moreover, pilot schools will be randomly assigned from a sampling frame to effectively impact evaluation. MOE aims to use the information garnered from the pilot schools to ensure an effective review of the curriculum.
