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Freddie ignorant of Education of Indo-Guyanese

Jun 05, 2013 Letters

Dear Editor,
Freddie Kissoon lambasted Bharrat Jagdeo in “Jagdeo’s theory is pure nonsense” (KN Jun 2, 2013) saying, among other things, that “the former President had a mediocre exposure to learning” for his comment “the colonial system didn’t want Guyanese Indians to send their children to school”.
Kissoon contends that  Jagdeo’s comment is “nonsense”. It turns out that Jagdeo is right and it is Freddie who is displaying “a mediocre exposure to learning”.
Historians asserted that there was widespread dissatisfaction over the state of education of the masses of all ethnicities in colonial Guiana. One of the reasons why Guyana’s progress has been so slow is the abysmal ignorance of history by people like Freddie who, unfortunately, is in an influential position as a columnist to shape public opinion. He is mis-educating people.
Freddie should pay heed to Jagdeo so he can learn some history. Freddie must not mistake the efforts of the Canadian Missionaries to educate Indians with the colonial authority or the plantocracy educating Indians.
If he had studied Guyanese or Indian or Caribbean history, he would know that indentured Indians were brought to the Caribbean to rescue the sugar plantations.  Educating Indians or their children and grand children was not the concern and priority of the colonial rulers or the plantocracy.
The planters were interested in profits from plantation life not the welfare of the indentured laborers or former slaves. They were not interested in plowing profits into educating Indians. The colonial authority wanted Indians to remain on the fields. It was only after the “Indian government” sent a commission to study the conditions of the Indians and criticisms from anti-indentured groups in England that the colonial authority decided to take actions to “educate” Indians.
Freddie should read “Swettenham Circular” and the works of Professors Clement Seecharan, Zinul Bacchus, Walter Rodney and Mr. Harry Hergash, Dr. J.B Singh, Luckhoo, and others to familiar himself with the subject matter.
Jagdeo was right that the colonials were very contemptuous of the locals that they did not care whether the children of Indians were schooled. The fact of the matter is that, in 1876, education was made compulsory up to the age 12 in rural areas (14 in urban ones). But Indians objected, because all the government-funded schools insisted that students become Christians – a condition that was unacceptable to most Indians who were Hindus and Muslims.
So rather than fund Indian schools, in 1902 Governor James Swettenham issued a circular instructing education officials that Indian children be exempted from the Educational Ordinance of 1876 – Indian parents would not be fined for not sending their children to school.
This meant that, at first, most Indian children did not attend school. This exemption pleased the planters since Indian children could continue to labour in the fields with their parents and grandchildren.
The British Guiana East Indian Association was the primary vehicle through which Indians were educated, not the colonial authority (let Freddie get that in his head). As Harry Hergash penned in the May 2013 edition of the Guyana Journal, Indians were keen on education for their children but could
not afford it.
“It was a matter of struggle for survival, and education for children was not a priority. Instead of attending school, children had to be engaged in tasks to help supplement the family’s meagre income obtained from almost 12 hrs of hour daily.
Yours truly,
Vishnu Bisram

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