While calling for there to be continuous transformation of education across the Region, Guyana’s Minister of Education, Sonia Parag, has warned that while the Region must embrace technological changes to learning and teaching, the literacy and numeracy model adopted by the Region and Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) must not be abandoned, stating that slower learners still stand to benefit from the classroom interaction with teachers and traditional learning.

The Education Minister made the comments while delivering the feature address at the inaugural CXC Ministerial forum in Jamaica on Wednesday.

“It is my unwavering belief that if we must continue to anchor our education system in the foundation of literacy and numeracy, we must do that. If a child cannot read with comprehension, then an e-library offers little value, and if a student cannot reason with numbers then the promise of coding, data analysis and digital innovation becomes inaccessible. As such, digitization must not distract us from these fundamentals, it must strengthen and promote them,” the Education Minister tells the forum.

She said the region must quickly adapt, as the role of teachers and the examination system is being reshaped in real time. The Minister told the meeting that while students are engaged on digital platforms as a primary source of learning, access must not be mistaken for understanding.

“That is why I consider it essential that we work closed with the Caribbean examinations council to ensure that as we enter this new era of unprecedented growth in virtual technologies, our system of teaching, learning, and assessment remain align and fir for purpose,” the Education Minister noted.

Minister Parag said the Region must work together to collectively address the education system, explaining that Guyana has established the Digital School to ensure access to new forms of learning.

“We gather at a moment when the pace of change in education is no longer gradual but accelerated and in many respect unforgiving. The systems we inherited, the methods we refined and the assessment we relied upon are now tested by forces that does not wait for policy cycles or institutional comfort. In the age of social media, change can be as quick as a single post,” Ms. Parag noted.

The Education Minister also highlighted progress being made in Guyana’s education system, and pointed to the Government’s push to ensure an increased literacy rate from the Primary school level.

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