Guyanese must eschew the Love of Power and seek to espouse the Power of Love

Apr 21, 2019 Letters

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Dear Editor,
For the past several years, seldom a day goes by without some letter, report, or editorial in the printed press lamenting the social ills (crises) that have been plaguing the Guyanese society. As recent as April 17, 2019, the SN editorial “Dangerous Lives” which commented on the widespread perpetration of violence against women, suggests that we have to be doing something wrong. Indeed we have! We have failed to eliminate the seeds of various forms of violence and discord so skillfully sewn by our former imperial masters. Given Guyana’s stark social realities, it is likely that the most salient question confronting Guyanese might very well be: “How can our society be reconstructed?” or, “How can we change the direction of our cultural evolution?”
We are a nation consisting of several ethnicities. Unfortunately, we do not understand one another. We may tolerate one another, but few of us actually do love one another. We interact daily, but it is extremely doubtful as to whether we are making any progress at building a Guyanese nation of one people with a common destiny. Attempts at increasing the levels of cooperation and social cohesion are ineffective, and are easily undermined by those who wish to keep the nation divided. We seem oblivious to the fact that a divided nation has no future. The crucial question is: “How can this intricate and difficult issue of building a nation of one people with a common destiny be achieved?” There are no easy answers to this question, but progress might be possible if we can find a way to transform the love of power, which is a primary source of violence and division, into the power of love. This is absolutely essential for our viability as a Guyanese nation.
Changing a culture (social mindsets) can take decades, or even generations but, we can be encouraged by the truism that the longest journey begins with the first step. The Leader of the Opposition in Trinidad & Tobago, The Honourable Kamla Persad-Bissessar, on her recent visit to Guyana, made an excellent suggestion in her address to the Guyanese Private Sector. The Honourable Lady suggested that there can be no better investment for Guyana than to invest in education with its new found wealth. I am in total agreement with this suggestion.
Schooling is compulsory by law, and all Guyanese must pass through the school system. It is, perhaps, one of the more appropriate places to begin to do the right thing, and that is to begin to sow the seeds of a more humane and caring mindset in our future citizens. I, therefore propose that Guyana undertakes, as soon as it is humanly possible, a comprehensive investment in quality holistic education. Quality holistic education is defined as education that meets the needs of each individual student (that is, the multiple intelligences of each individual are challenged daily), the needs of the teachers, and the needs within the environment.
In addition, to the historical fact that our inherited Eurocentric system of schooling was not designed for human development, but as a means of controlling the behaviour of the former slaves, Rudyard Kipling the poet laureate of European colonialism exposed another sinister goal of the imposed system in his poem “The White Man’s burden”:
Take up the White Man’s burden
Send forth the best ye breed
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve the captives’ need
The text of this poem (Knowles, F.L.1974), includes both an explication of the naked motives for imperialism and the euphemistic rationalizations that were used to obscure the ugliness of stealing someone else’s homeland and degrading their culture.
Guyanese must understand that our traditional inherited Eurocentric, elitist, export oriented schooling with its hierarchical authoritarian organization, and emphases on competition, individualism, indoctrination, provision of skills for the labour market, and which has brought civilization extremely close to the brink of environmental disaster, has not only been the source of widespread mental health problems and winner take all mentality, but is also inimical to our nation building aspirations. Our present system of schooling does not educate, empower, or emancipate our citizens
The present system of schooling in Guyana, therefore, must be replaced by a more development oriented education system that focuses on human development, emphasizes genuine democracy, cherishes and nurtures diversity, freedom for individuals to develop their innate potentials, morality, the building of relationships, responsibility, collegiality, cooperation, longer term thinking (stewardship for future generations), respect for all living things, the environment, and the interconnectedness between the living and non-living. This type of education has great potential to facilitate and nurture the building of a compassionate, humane, democratic, development oriented and prosperous nation.
The development of a quality holistic education system in Guyana would take several years to accomplish. However, we can take our first step by discussing and debating aspects of a comprehensive investment strategy in quality holistic education. I cite eight of fifteen that I have identified as essential:
1) Funding: Much more money will be needed than is being allocated to education at the moment;
2) Land appropriation: Constitutional approval for the appropriation of land for the relocation of inadequate and unsafe schools;
3) Local Democracy: Communities must be allowed to play a greater role in the management of schools;
4) Schools must be purpose built. That is, possess all the facilities for the adequate delivery of the curriculum;
5) Teacher Education and Professionalization: There must be new policies aimed at recruiting the best candidates (the cream of the crop). All teachers must be competent in the following: a) area of specialization; b) information technology:, c) developmental psychology; and, d) action research;
6) Ideal sizes of schools and classes. These must be limited in order to facilitate frequent interaction between students and adult role models;
7) Protection of younger teens; There is need for an Intermediate level (Grades7, 8, 9, 10) where younger teens are offered some protection from bullying, and other vices;
8) Universal Literacy: Country-wide evening continuing holistic education classes should be established so as to provide second chance opportunities for adult citizens, and to enrich the environment to which students return when schools are closed.
The above list represents some of the main aspects to be considered in a comprehensive investment in quality holistic education in Guyana.
Yours truly,
Clarence O. Perry

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