While approximately $31.8 billion or 16.6 percent of last year’s budget was expended in the education sector,Cheap China Jerseys, Government has this year decided to augment spending in this sector. According to Finance Minister, Mr. Winston Jordan, Government this year has allocated a total of $40.3 billion or 17.5 percent of the $230 Billion 2016 Budget.Speaking in the National Assembly on Friday, the Finance Minister said that this Government’s mandate of education becoming a means to sustainable development, several new initiatives will be advanced within each level of the education sector.As such, he disclosed that the 10 regional education action plans emanating from the national strategic plan for education 2014-2018 will be reviewed and updated, in keeping with the new mandates for the sector and new timelines.Further, he noted that equity and quality across regions will guide Government’s interventions in 2016 and well into the medium term,NFL Jerseys Outlet, while focus will be given to education in the hinterland where both the deployment of manpower and the monitoring of education delivery require urgent attention.In recognition of the need to improve access to quality education across the education levels, the Finance Minister said that “we have crafted interventions to provide tangible support to families and children.”But according to him, in addition to Government’s efforts, the role of parents in supporting their children’s education must be emphasized as a critical component in ensuring the success of the nation’s children.STRATEGIC INITIATIVESThe Finance Minister also spoke of Government’s ‘Three Bs’ (Boats, Buses and Bicycles) programme. This, he said, was implemented by Government after assessing the plight of pupils and the transportation woes they encounter. And there are plans to expand the programme in 2016 to include Books and Breakfast.And Government, according to Jordan, will also be looking at the issues of school attendance, punctuality and students’ ability to focus after travelling long distances by foot, all of which limit their access to education and thus will be addressed. Further, to ensure children are adequately outfitted for school, he disclosed that 28,000 pairs of footwear will be distributed in the first quarter of this year, primarily within the hinterland and riverain areas.This, according to him, will complement the $424.2 million that has been budgeted for the continuation of the school uniform programme that will benefit over 204,000 children attending schools in the hinterland and on the coastland.Added to this, Minister Jordan told the House that a sum of $1.3 billion was expended on the National School Feeding Programme last year.? However, this year’s programme has been increased to $1.9 billion to cater for a hot meal for over 7,000 additional hinterland students.And in a deliberate effort to ensure that students at all levels have access to teaching-learning materials, “our Government will introduce the Education Resources Delivery Software, in 2016. No child should be asked to learn without having access to the requisite textbooks and our Government will ensure that this barrier is removed,” Minister Jordan pledged.IMPROVING PERFORMANCETurning to the performances of the nation’s children, the Minister noted that the results obtained at examinations point to critical gaps in the quality of education delivery. One key component, he added, is the area of teacher training.Last year, 506 trained teachers were added to the education system and another 415 teachers will be added this year. Further, additional satellite centres in Kwakwani,Wholesale Football Jerseys, Kamarang, Moraikobai and Charity will be established to increase the number of trained teachers in the hinterland and riverain areas, Jordan announced.He stressed that equipping teachers and classrooms to ensure more effective subject delivery continues to be a priority. And in an attempt to address the increasing rate of psycho-social problems in schools, Minister Jordan said that teachers will be trained with the requisite competencies and techniques to lend support to school welfare officers. Also, separate rooms will be made available at schools to render counselling sessions for both parents and students.“Last year, we expended $2.1 billion on the construction, extension, rehabilitation, and maintenance of our educational facilities,” the Minister disclosed, while adding that “Works were completed on the extensions and rehabilitation of various facilities, including One Mile Primary School and secondary schools at West Demerara and Sand Creek; the Port Kaituma male dormitory; and science laboratories at Corentyne Comprehensive Secondary School and Vreed-en-hoop Secondary.”And according to Minister Jordan, this year too, a