Georgetown, Guyana – (April 26, 2016) The Ministry of Social Cohesion continued to use the Ministry of Education’s ‘Face the Community’ initiative as an opportunity to take the message of national unity to a captive audience in the village of Ann’s Grove, East Coast Demerara.
Todays’ meeting was aimed at reaching parents and teachers to discuss their roles in creating cohesive communities. This interaction followed the Education Ministry’s programme of discussion.
Programme Coordinator at the Ministry of Social Cohesion, Ms. Sharon Patterson, Regional Education Officer, Ms. Jennifer Bourne and other officials and officers from the Department of Education met with residents at the Ann’s Grove Secondary School.
Ms. Patterson urged the parents and residents associated with the Parent Teachers’ Associations (PTAs) and other community groups to start exploring ways through which they can use their influence as a collective to effect positive changes, with regard to fostering social cohesion.
“Guyana would only grow and develop as a harmonious society if we encourage and embrace social cohesion. It is the only way. If we do, we will raise [a] generation of children, who are zealous and work for the good of their country… We need to move forward and we have to do the work because our children are growing up with prejudices and we are the ones who create that. We need to stop that if we are to move forward,” she said.
The Ministry of Social Cohesion has established an inter-Ministerial committee tasked with identifying opportunities through which all stakeholders at the community level can benefit from training in the areas of conflict resolution, healing and reconciliation and other peace-building initiatives. The Education Ministry has an active role in this committee.
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