Putting one’s reputation on the line

Jun 24, 2015 Editorial

The recent decision by the Minister of Education, Dr. Rupert Roopnaraine, to confidently put his reputation on the line if he does not turn the University of Guyana (UG) around in five years, shows his commitment and resolve to improve the country’s higher levels of learning.
Such a commitment is long overdue, owing to the fact that institutions such as UG, President’s College and the Cyril Potter College of Education, were essentially starved of funds and in some cases were neglected by the former administration for over a decade.
It seems that some persons in the previous government were not interested in making UG in particular, a viable educational institution.
Educating the population is not a gift; it is a necessity for the economic and human development of the country. All governments have a responsibility to broaden the minds and opportunities of their citizens in order to advance national development. It was through education that past generations transmitted accumulated knowledge, wisdom, skills, cultures and values necessary for the maintenance and development of society.
In all cases, education is required to improve awareness and enrich the environment.
The idea that education is essential is as old as human civilization itself. Societies must educate their citizens in order for them to contribute to and participate productively in, their own well-being. Without education, a nation is doomed.
More and more, as social structures in Guyana are being eroded, schools are increasingly being turned to as the last bastion of hope for youth. But a number of schools, especially those in the rural areas, are in dire straits and require prompt attention from the government. The routine responsibilities of establishing structures and systems to ensure the delivery of curriculum are not enough to deliver the kind of transformation that is being demanded by the society.
Whatever opinions may have been voiced by the citizens about the role of secondary education in national development, the reality is that it has been almost a half century since independence and there is still no greater influence on the primary and secondary school curricula than it was during the colonial period.
The system has been tailored to prepare students to receive high grades and to pass examinations, to the detriment of sound ethical values, a thorough national ideology, passionate nationalism, critical, creative, and innovative thinking, and a firm belief in ethnic diversity. Given the new realities, schools must cultivate quality leadership, both formal and informal, to deliver such transformation. Persons appointed to leadership positions in schools can no longer be selected on the basis of age or seniority or political affiliation, but rather on qualifications, experience and competence.
The newly-elected government must address the malaise that has hamstrung the education system in recent years. The administration must re-evaluate the current system with the intention of introducing a seamless education structure which in every respect should meet the national, collective and individual needs as well as solve the country’s social, economic, political, and technological problems.
This requires a functional and transparent structure in which competence and philosophical strength will be the main pillars. Notwithstanding this, the Ministry of Education under new governance must provide quality leadership to deal with the seemingly insurmountable problems in the schools and more so at the University.
Quality leadership in terms of positively influencing teachers and providing intellectual direction for them to make the transition from the old mould in which they traditionally operated, and empowering and supporting them as partners in decision-making, must be undertaken promptly. The government must also ensure the conditions for successful and appropriate teaching and learning to take place for all students and teachers, and where the schools should perform at a satisfactory level. A brain is a terrible thing to waste. The new education minister seems intent on not letting that happen.

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Putting one’s reputation on the line

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