Guyana

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Guyana is a small state of the Commonwealth with a population of over 800,000 (World Bank, 2022). It is the only Commonwealth nation in mainland South America.

COL’s work in Guyana is primarily in the areas of higher education, through the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) network, Open Schooling, Gender, and Technology-Enabled Learning. The University of Guyana offers COL’s Commonwealth Executive Master of Business Administration and Master of Public Administration programmes and serves on the programmes’ academic and executive governing boards. Learners from Guyana are also participating in COL’s free online courses and benefitting from other openly available resources.

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, 15-64 years old¹
8.6%		8.1%
Female (2019)		Male (2019)

Completion rate, lower secondary education for the school year ending in 2020¹
87.9%		78.5%
Female		Male

Gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education for the school year ending in 2012¹
15.4%		7.8%
Female		Male

Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications in secondary education¹
n/a		n/a
Female		Male

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in May 2023

Highlights

Quality Assurance Standards for Open and Distance Learning released with six templates to support implementation.
150+ students have enrolled and 89 have graduated in the CEMBA/MPA programme at the University of Guyana.
The Adult Education Association of Guyana developed a new institutional policy in ODL to reach more students.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector. COL partnerships assist in improving and extending teaching and learning services to people in the developing Commonwealth.

COL’s partners in Guyana include:

Ministry of Education
Adult Education Association of Guyana
Cyril Potter College of Education
National Centre for Educational Resource Development
National Accreditation Council, Guyana
Trifinity Solutions
University of Guyana
Youth Challenge Guyana

Literacy rate (2021)¹
88.4%		89.3%
Female, Adult (15+)		Male, Adult (15+)

Economic Activity – Labour Forces Participation (2019)¹
43.2%		66.2%
Female, Ages 15-64		Male, Ages 15-64

Political Decision Making (2020)¹
36.6%
Share of seats held by women in national parliament

Life expectancy (2023)¹
69.4		62.5
Female		Male

1. COL gender country profile October 2023

85	110
Individuals using the internet (%)¹	Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹

12	34
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹	Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹




1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), retrieved in May 2023.

Guyana

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Country Data Sources