Education in Guyana

The Government of Guyana has expressed a strong commitment to improving education systems, noting the importance of education in allowing Guyanese society to adapt to changing needs and demands.

In 2022 President Irfaan Ali committed to increasing education spending to 6% of Guyana’s GDP and 20% of the national budget.

Investment in the education in Guyana is vital to address a series of challenges faced by the country. Although primary and secondary education is free, other costs associated with attending school currently contribute to poor student retention rates, with socio-economically disadvantaged and male students particularly vulnerable to dropping out.

Attainment levels within the country also remain low, with less than 50% of students passing their English and Mathematics National Grade Two Assessment, and an even lower pass rate in Grade Four Assessments.

In order to tackle these challenges within the education sector, the Ministry of Education's 2021-2025 sector plan sets out a vision to provide opportunities for quality education for all. To achieve this, 5 strategic goals are outlined:

• Improving governance and accountability
• Improving performance at all levels
• Improving the efficiency of the Education System
• Reducing inequities in Education
• Contributing to lifelong learning and employability

The plan also stresses the importance of monitoring and evaluation, noting its importance for accountability and transparency, as well as ensuring that policies and programming are data-driven.

In addition to the education sector plan, Guyana has also developed a Partnership Compact with GPE. The compact is designed to support the continued transformation of the Guyanese education system.

Noting that district and school leaders currently lack clear guidance, training, and professional development opportunities, the compact sets out to address these issues. The key priority of the Partnership Compact is therefore: ‘Strengthening Instructional Leadership at District and School levels: Promote equitable learning by strengthening culturally responsive and effective instructional leadership and improved accountability at the district and school levels.’

• Guyana is part of the KIX LAC hub and has a KIX national delegation.
• KIX research project:
• Using data for improving education equity and inclusion – MICS-EAGLE