We need a first-rate education system to compete in a globalised world

Jul 15, 2014 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
The explosion of science and its application in the form of technology over the past years have transformed some countries and the global society in monumental proportions. Amidst this, there are countries such as Guyana that have never developed the capacity to respond to any of these scientific revolutions.
In the age of robotics and industry, computers and ICT, and the transformative forces of the “engineering culture”, there are expressions of serious concern about the systemic failure of education in Guyana, especially in Maths and the hard Sciences. These transformative forces of the new scientific revolution have had far-reaching effects on societies and peoples, requiring radical responses from the educational system.
Knowledge is, indeed, power. In order to begin to respond to change, the Minister of Education and her advisers must possess anticipatory intelligence to think in future tense. To what extent are we, as a country and nation, prepared to deal with these new realities?
The concerns about our lack of preparation have emerged from the poor training of teachers and lack of school books and other classroom accessories that are not supplied by the Ministry of Education. We ask parents to call for a re-examination of the teaching curriculum that chokes the potential out of their children and deepens the social divide in the country.
Guyana’s education system is still largely based on rote learning left over from the British. But the orientation in rote learning has suffocated all possibilities of critical, creative and innovative skills. No wonder the major teaching and learning problems in English Language, Mathematics and Science are associated with the lack of critical thinking and problem-solving skills. We therefore call on the Minister of Education to establish a new thinking and philosophy to guide education in post-colonial Guyana.
In addition to the academic concerns about the failure of the educational system, there are increasing concerns about its relationship to crime. In recent months there has been a significant amount of youths who are high school drop-outs. Related to this is the fact that most of the criminals are uneducated youths and this is the result of a neglected and poor educational system.  What Guyana needs is a system orientated in career paths such as scientists, ICT specialists, and engineers, in addition to the traditional social and occupational preparation.
Guyana’s education system requires redesigning. The Ministry of Education needs to recognize that there is a slight shift from the plantation system, characterized by a labour-intensive workforce, to a modern workplace requiring scientific and technological workers.  This approach is not only vital, but it also complements the arts and sciences—the kind of skills employers require. This would lead to profound changes in education and training, not just to participate in the new workplace, but also for the survival of the nation.
Over the years, the poor quality of academic performance, and the rising illiteracy and crime rate that have plagued the country, have inhibited our ability to raise productivity. Thus, a revolution in education is needed to break this vicious cycle, as much as the country needs to survive in this fiercely competitive global economy. Teachers are the agents of social change and this is consistent with the true meaning and quality of transformation of education. They must embrace a new awareness, which in turn inspires a new era in education and society.
We believe that the Minister does not understand the concept of a holistic curriculum or a vision of education for citizenship. It is not just the Minister. The minority PPP government is indicted for actively allowing a system that lacks compassion for the multitude of our school children, who must take major exams starting a few feet behind the actual starting line. All of the attention is on the first-choice children, as though the rest are not our children too. It is not pure ability that causes most of the children who get their first choice at the good schools; it is the status of their parents and their political connections.
It is the Ministry of Education and not the parents who should be held responsible for the breakdown of the education system. Nor can the parents be held responsible for the natural gifts or talents that their children have or don’t have. The role of the government is to strive to improve the conditions of the underprivileged. We cannot have fair competition in education if we do not neutralize the starting conditions. The concept of a meritocracy should not apply in education. Leveling the playing field so that children can come to the starting line of schooling without advantages or disadvantages should be the primary goal.
Our major concern is that too many poor parents are forced to expend their scarce resources to remove their children from public schools to private schools, just to try to get them a good education. Some 10 to 15 per cent of children in Guyana are now attending private schools—a percentage that is one of the highest in the world, and is shameful because it places the country in the company of failed states.
We want to remind the government that children do not pick their parents, just as they do not pick their race or gender. They find themselves born, some of them in homes where no one has ever done well at secondary school, some with homes without fathers, or without surplus income that could be spent on educational materials. Entry into good schools should not be based on ethnicity, privilege, or on the status and wealth of parents.
Asquith Rose and Harish Singh

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