Dear Editor,
The “Ancient County” of Berbice is on the rise, and this is nowhere more so than in Region Six. At the leading edge of this economic and cultural renaissance is the education sector. During the Office of the President outreach last week, President Ali made it clear that the Mahaica Bridge is no longer the outer limit of educational excellence. And indeed, how propitious it was that only two weeks ago, the University of Guyana Berbice Campus (UGBC) celebrated its 25th anniversary.
The UGBC is not an isolated entity because next door in Port Mourant is the Guyana Technical Training College Inc. GTTCI offers an 18-month Advanced Diploma in Oil and Gas and has a state-of-the-art facility with simulators to provide hands-on training for the offshore sector. It is a world-class facility by any measure. 104 students have already graduated, and another 28 are in training now. These are more than graduates. They are the material expression of an idea – where every child in this land will be included as the nation rises.
Soon a specialised school for training in tourism and hospitality will open in Port Mourant. This school will go a long way in advancing the national development agenda of diversifying our economy in a massive and sustained effort to push back against the pressures of the resource curse and Dutch Disease. The school will also become a training ground for those who will enter the Orange Economy.
Not far away, the New Amsterdam Nursing School is making a name for itself. Right now 186 nurses are being trained, along with 66 nursing assistants and 21 midwives.
The Ministry of Education has been hard at work in Region Six. This has resulted in 1445 trained teachers, with another 813 currently moving towards graduation. By next year, Region Six will have the distinction of having a teaching staff with 100 per cent trained teachers. That is what human development and human security look like.
Education, innovation, and transformation go hand-in-hand. In this regard, the Guyana Digital School (GDS) will allow students and other learners to leapfrog the more traditional forms of education delivery. Geography and class will become almost irrelevant, because the GDS will be available 24/7, and students will work at their own pace and in the circumstances of their own choosing. 608 students from Region Six have been enrolled to date, and that number will grow when Grades Seven to 11 students are admitted in 2026.
45 Region Six students were recently admitted to engineering programmes, and 15 were admitted to study medicine. By January 2026, 100 students will have the opportunity to do pre-med, again right there in Region Six.
Students come from diverse backgrounds and learn differently. In this context, readers should note that 117 special needs students are enrolled in the SEND school programmes. New SEND centres were recently opened at Overwinning Primary, No. 48 Primary, Skeldon Secondary, and Port Mourant Secondary.
The philosophy of no child left behind is real. Inclusive excellence is a key element of the PPP/C’s commitment to democratic governance.
The American philosopher of education John Dewey once said, “Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself.” Dewey believed that learning is not confined to the classroom, nor limited to youth. It is a continuous, democratic act, the means by which human beings grow in judgement, participation, and shared responsibility. Region Six today is now fully ensconced in the participatory development model in Guyana.