Education Minister, Nick Kuman, wishes to thank the students, teachers, parents, guardians, Boards of Management and other stakeholders who have contributed to a successful year.
“We have ended the 2016 academic year on Friday, December 9, and it is my great pleasure to thank you all for your commitment and efforts throughout the year,” said the Minister.
He stated that despite the difficult financial situation faced by the country, the Education Department managed to implement most of its key policies.
“Success would not have been possible without the unwavering commitment and support from the national government to fund the important policies that the Ministry of Education is implementing, such as the Tuition Fee Free Policy and other interventions that we have initiated to improve the quality of teaching and learning for our students and teachers.
“Education is an investment and foundation for national development and the future of our children. Our vision for quality education and high standards is setting the benchmark in all areas of education and our efforts have been focused in this trend to see better results.”
He said since 2012, the government has spent over K3 billion on more than 10,000 schools, from elementary to vocational and Flexible Open and Distance Education (FODE), Inclusive Education Resource Centres (IERC) and Permitted Schools.
“Our second priority has been to make sure that the huge number of students also receives quality education through a school curriculum that is relevant and comparable to global standards.
“Therefore this government has ensured that the Outcome Based Education curriculum model was phased out and replaced with a standards based education system and a school curriculum that has articulated content and performance standards in all subjects and grades by 2019.”
The implementation started with all 15,000 elementary teachers undergoing the conversion – in-service training as of the end of August this year. To date, the total number of elementary teachers trained since 2015 stands at 23,736 in 22 provinces.
“We expect to have the new syllabus, Teachers Guides and English Kits in school for full SBC at the elementary level in 2017,” said Kuman.
“It will take four years (2016-2019) to see the complete implementation of the curriculum from elementary to Grade 12.
“The development of lower primary (grade 3 to 5) syllabus, teacher’s guide and student resource books are in advance stages for us to commence teacher training and thereafter implementation.”
Our other achievements in 2016 that need mentioning include:
- An MoU signed in April to legally bind the Education Ministry and the National Capital District Commission (NCDC) to continue to work in partnership to progress the transfer process of NCD Education Services Division to NCD through the instruments of Delegation of powers and functions.
- The introduction of the bio-metric hand punch system for the department’s staff and for teachers. This is to ensure that punctuality and commitment from public servants and also teachers is maintained.
- The independent taskforce that was established to investigate and review all current policies and reports on examination cheating and certification presented their report to the Education Department. We have started acting on the recommendations from this taskforce and for the first time this year, we have had no major incidences of cheating compared to a number of years back.
- The new National Education Plan 2015-2019 has been recently approved by the National Executive Council for implementation.
- A total of 212,340 students in Grades 8, 10 and 12 successfully sat their final examinations and received their certificates.
- We have continued to improve the quality of services to our teachers who are our number one priority.
- On-going infrastructure developments and expansion in our teachers colleges to increase the teacher graduate numbers.
“In 2017, we will continue to focus our attention on improving the quality of teaching and learning in our schools,” stated Minister Kuman.
“We look forward to the support from our partners and stakeholders and we also welcome any new support and partnership that will enhance what we are currently doing.
“On behalf of my family, the people of Gumine, the Ministry of Education and the National Government, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year, 2017.
“May the good Lord be with you as you celebrate the festive season with your families and loved ones throughout our beautiful country.
“Thank you and God bless.”
(File picture)