Empowerment through education

Sep 13, 2014 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
This month, the month of September, coincided with two important observances which in a way are interlocking and mutually reinforcing from a national development perspective – Education Month and Amerindian Heritage Month.
Let me before proceeding any further express my feeling of loss over the burning down of the Umana Yana which has been a major landmark in our capital city, Georgetown. One hopes that it will be rebuilt sooner rather than later.
There is a saying to the effect that one cannot be educated and poor at the same time. There is a whole lot of truth in this saying. Experience has shown that millions of people have been lifted out of the poverty threshold due to greater access to quality education defined here to mean one that provides opportunities for individuals to lead productive and constructive lives. In other words, education must be relevant to the needs of society and provide that opportunity for individuals to realize their potential to the fullest extent possible.
Consistent with this thinking, the current PPP/C administration has been putting much emphasis on education which has been declared a national priority. This emphasis on education is in line with the administration’s approach to development which sees development as essentially human development. This has found expression in the huge sums of money set aside in the national budget for education and health. Much emphasis is being put on hinterland education, aimed at bridging the achievement gap between hinterland and coastland students.
It is no secret that under the colonial administration hinterland education was grossly neglected, a situation which persisted under the PNC administration. It was not until the PPP/C government was returned to office in October 1992 that efforts to improve accessibility to quality education for hinterland students begun in earnest. The promise of a brighter day for our Amerindians, once a distant dream, has now become a living reality.
Our Amerindian students are catching up nicely in terms of education achievement. Today Amerindian students can be found in increasing numbers at all leading educational institutions including the Cyril Potter College of Education, the University of Guyana and other training institutions including the Nursing Schools, the Guyana School of Agriculture and Government Technical Institute. To make their stay away from home as comfortable as possible, and to preserve their cultural norms and values, the Government has constructed a new dormitory facility for Amerindian children attending schools in Georgetown.
The delivery of education in Guyana is today much more equitable and corresponds with the declared policy of the present administration to empower the Amerindian people in order to mainstream them in the national development process. Amerindians are today taking charge of their own development by taking up important positions which in the past were held by coastlanders. These include head teachers, nurses, doctors, agriculture extension officers and engineers.
Attempts at economic diversification have commenced with the cultivation of rice on a pilot basis in Region Nine. This, when fully operationalized, could have a transformative effect on the local economies in terms of job creation and allowing for greater cash flow into the economy.
Much progress has been made by this administration in terms of linking the various hinterland regions by way of a road link. Thanks to the road link between regions Eight and Nine, it is now possible for farmers to bring out their produce to much larger markets in Lethem and even further afield in Linden and Georgetown. In this regard, the recent trail linking the North and South Pakaraimas is of particular significance.
The democratization of education delivery in hinterland communities has put added pressure on the education system to, as it were, deliver the goods. There is hardly any justification for hinterland and rural schools to lag behind in terms of educational achievements, especially given the fact that there is a much more equitable distribution of educational resources, including learning resources and trained teaching personnel. Schools must be held accountable for their performance.
The good news is that hinterland schools are doing much better today than in the past. The education deficit is gradually being eliminated and the performance gap between our hinterland and coastal schools is being progressively narrowed.
This is indeed one of the best indicators of economic and social progress, which in essence will empower these communities to take development in their own hands. Most of the Amerindian and hinterland communities have moved away from a subsistence way of life to a cash economy, with the establishment of banking systems.
Amerindian development has come a long way since the assumption to office of the PPP/C administration, even though much more remains to be done.
Hydar Ally

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