More than 3000 migrant Children in Guyana's classrooms -Education Minister

Guyana continues to see a growing number of migrant children being enrolled in local classrooms as more persons continue to cross the borders from neighbouring Venezuela to escape the hardships in their country.

Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, revealed this morning that there are more than 3000 migrant children currently enrolled in local classrooms at the various levels. At a press conference, she explained that it is important for the children of migrants not to be denied an education.

“Our policy in Guyana is that nobody, no school aged child should be denied an education. But as we integrate them into the classrooms, we are crafting programmes now to make sure that the integration is in the best interest of the children. How do we ensure that english, which is a second language (for them) is something that is administered in a sensible practical way that allows these children to integrate properly with other subjects, and we will roll that out shortly”, she said.

There have also been reports about some migrant students being bullied in schools. The Education Minister said her Ministry continues to address that problem and will be unveiling a number of initiatives to generally tackle violence in schools.

In the past four years, Guyana has seen a steady stream of migrants making their way across from Venezuela, and settling in many parts of Region One and parts of Region Four. The Government, with support from some international organizations, has been working to provide support to many of the migrants. It is believed that there are more than 30,000 adult migrants from Venezuela now living in Guyana.

Just last week in the National Assembly, the Opposition raised questions about the skill-sets of many of the migrants, and it was explained by the Labour Minister that a project will soon get underway to examine their skill-sets and to also provide training for them to become more job ready.