We must speedily redesign and modernise our education system

Mar 06, 2011 Letters

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Dear Editor,
It is evident that the education system in Guyana is not meeting the needs of Guyana and the Guyanese nation.
Kaieteur News 12-12-10 paints a dismal future with regard to meeting manpower (technical and intellectual/research) needs in the agricultural sector, which is being described as “the pivot around which much of the other sectors rotate.
The Honorable Minister of Education (MOE), Shaik Baksh, asserts that MOE recognises the importance of food and nutrition to the Guyanese society, and, has retained the services of four “specialists” to examine the Education Sector policies, plans, and programmes across the schools to promote an awareness of agriculture and to encourage more students to take agriculture science as a subject. He states further, that the drop in enrolment at the Faculty of Agriculture, UG, is compounded by the fact that UG does not offer a Master’s in Agriculture. We need that because we need to strengthen research capabilities in the agricultural sector. Who or, what is to be blamed for this situation?
In 1982, there were 200 vacancies for technical manpower in the Ministry of Agriculture, 25 of which called for postgraduate qualifications. With the advent and increasing importance of crop diversification, the situation is now probably much worse.
We need to acknowledge that our systems emerged out of Guyana’s colonial past, and our institutions often reflect both the characteristics and goals of the past. Although, there have been changes in our systems since independence, the full potential of the agriculture sector to drive economic growth is yet to be realised.
One of the major constraints responsible for this lack of development, is the fact that throughout the history of the agriculture industry in Guyana, policy and decision-making have been in the hands of bureaucrats and politicians, most of whom are not only graduates of a classical academic curriculum, but are also devoid of any exposure, experience or tradition within
\the agriculture or agribusiness sector. As a consequence, meaningful communication between the technical and administrative branches of the Ministry has always been fraught with problems.
It is ironic, that I have (or, had?) in my possession a letter dated sometime during the First World War (1914-1918), written by a colonial official (in British Guiana) to the Home Office in England, asking that a Master be appointed to teach agriculture at, “The Queen’s College”, so as to make the education of the boys more relevant to the needs of the colony. This happened almost 100 years ago. Has there been sufficient progress since that time? Must Guyanese allow this situation to continue?
More recently SN 18-02-11, Cabinet Secretary, Dr Roger Luncheon, announced that the way has been cleared for the recruitment of graduate teachers from overseas, particularly in Mathematics and Science subjects. According to Dr Luncheon, there is an urgent need for teachers in these areas, given the importance to development: “the urgency in responding to creative (?) needs for Mathematics and Science teachers now, has more or less outstripped what national production levels can provide and this is why the decision has to be examined and looked at to return to an older model of addressing the human resource needs in the teaching profession”.
I must admit that I feel for Dr Luncheon, that after 45 years of running our own affairs (sovereignty), he is forced to admit failure.
But, where did the older model take us, I ask? How effective was this model? Did it teach us “how” to fish? It is evident it did not. Why, then, return to a model that has proven to be ineffective in meeting our needs? Will we ever learn from our mistakes?
The above are only two of the more recent pieces of evidence that point to the fact that our education system is not meeting the needs of Guyanese students, teachers and the society at large. Prior to this in the 1980’s, there was the Primary Education Improvement Project (PEIP). In the 1990’s we had the Secondary Schools Reform Project (SSRP).   And, in the first decade of the twenty-first century we had the Basic Education and Management Support (BEAMS) project, the Education For All/Fast Track Initiative (EFA/FTI), and the Associate Degree Programme at the Cyril Potter College of Education (CPCE). All have been funded by loans from the World Bank.
While it is too early to pronounce on the Associate Degree Programme at CPCE, the record will show that after the expenditure of billions of dollars, none of the several attempts at tinkering with the system, or “pouring new wine into an old wineskin”, has achieved the desired outcomes. God help the future generations that will have to repay these loans.
It is evident to all concerned Guyanese, that our education system is failing Guyana.    Education in Guyana is at grave risk. We can ignore this fact at our own peril.
I refer, again, to the Guyana Review (January – March, 2011, Vol. 18 #1), in which the Registrar, Caribbean Examination Council, Dr D. Jules, in his article: “Rethinking Education in the Caribbean”, cites five main reasons we need to redefine education in the Caribbean:
1) Tinkering with the system no longer works, we need a new vehicle of human empowerment and social transformation;
2) The implications of the internationalisation of education in a globalised world;
3) The rapid obsolescence of knowledge in the information revolution;
4) Our education systems are no longer working; and,
5) Education is too rapidly becoming a panacea for all problems.
Guyana’s education system should have been completely (top down) redesigned decades ago. It can be done. It must be done. Aspects of an appropriate model already exist.
In conclusion, it must be emphasised that the MOE cannot by itself, successfully, solve all the problems that beset the system. However, it must lead and chart the way forward.
Clarence O.  Perry

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