No Grades 2, 4,9 and Placement Exams this year

Last Updated on Friday, 23 April 2021, 9:33 by Denis Chabrol

Chief Education Officer Marcel Hutson

Guyana’s Chief Education Officer, Marcel Hutson has announced that the National Grades two, Four and Nine and Placement Examinations would not be written this year “due to the adverse effects of the COVID-19, pandemic on the education sector.”

“We recognise the hardships our students would have been experiencing in terms of their readiness and preparedness for these examinations and we also recognise the need to ensure that our students are safe,” he said in a video statement issued by the Ministry of Education.

The Chief Education Officer said students from the private schools, who would like to enter the public schools, would be placed in schools awarded based on the results from the National Grade Six Assessment.

He also said that re-migrant learners would be placed in “appropriate” List A and B secondary schools closer to their homes.

Mr. Hutson advised that the Assistant Chief Education Officers and the Regional Education Officers would  responsible for ensuring that the process “is done with the greatest degree of efficiency and effectiveness.”

As Guyana continues to rack up dozens of new COVID-19 cases everyday and the death rate continues to increase, the Ministry of Education is no longer reopening schools for face-to-face classes except for Forms 4, 5 and 6.

It is now more than one year since schools have been closed for the most part, resulting in the Ministry of Education and private schools having to invest heavily in Online and blended teaching-learning activities.

At the same time, the vaccination process has been continuing with more than 100,000 Guyanese having already received the jab.