Indigenous children face unique challenges

Jul 21, 2018 Letters

Dear Editor,
On assuming office in 2015, President David A. Granger espoused the bridging of the gap between the hinterland and coastal communities. By this he alluded that there exists a disparity in development and there needs to be more opportunities given to hinterland communities to bring them to par with Coastland development.
Subsequent speeches and tangible support highlighted the president’s passion in underscoring the importance of education in realising his dream. He always referred to Education as the way out of poverty. We do welcome also the boats, buses, bicycles, and breakfast initiatives.
Personally I regard those interventions as extremely helpful, particularly to needy students in the hinterland.
While all of these initiatives are positive ideas, laudable, His Excellency needs to understand the unique circumstances which secondary school children of Indigenous communities face particularly in Region Two.
Secondary school boys and girls from the Indigenous villages of Tapakuma, Mainstay and Capoey have to leave their homes on a daily basis to be in an environment, in an atmosphere that is completely ‘foreign’ to their culture; foreign in the sense that whatever they are greeted with militate against their very culture.
Whatever they are accustomed to do, say, or believe is sometimes no longer seen as important, or not accepted in the new social environment. Avoidance Theory suggests that in such a situation the child either accepts a new culture, or becomes an introvert with a damaged self image.
One child reported he was treated as a misfit, called disparaging names by others and soon he succumbed to the power of ‘ group think’, and quite understandably dropped out of school.
Sad to say, there are a number of dropouts in our communities, with nothing to do, sometimes with no one from whom to seek help, sons and daughters who through no fault of theirs, could have made us proud, all because of a system which for decades has continued to fail us.
His Excellency certainly meant well when he thought of donating buses to our communities. Certainly His Excellency meant well when he thought of providing meals. All these are thoughtful gestures, but to provide a supportive, enabling learning environment for our Indigenous children would be looked down upon in history as the most important of all.
While it is not all possible to place a secondary school in every community, it can be argued that one could be centrally located to serve the three lake communities mentioned. These three Indigenous communities, ( Lake Capoey, Lake Mainstay and Lake Tapakuma) mind you, are in close proximity to each other, located in the Hilly Sand and Clay Region and a secondary school equipped with dormitories would be most welcome in this part of the world. While it may not necessarily end our educational woes immediately, it will certainly go a far way in improving the lives of our people as is being demonstrated in Indigenous communities elsewhere.
Opportunity is an important factor, but the deciding factor, you will agree sir, is an enabling environment in Education.
May God bless our country Guyana.
Faithfully,
Joseph C. Atkinson ( Pastor/Educator)

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