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Learning loss

Sep 30, 2023 Editorial

Kaieteur News – Teachers are missing in droves from the classroom, and the children are left on their own.  The Ministry of Education has expressed concerns about learning loss on the part of the young ones.  It is a fair position, one with obvious merits, but there is similar certainty that teachers currently engaged in a sickout would have their own position as a counter: how about some fairness to us for the effort that is put in?  Whether the minister or a teacher is speaking and highlighting their own priorities, there is a compelling case that could be made for either side.

There can be no question that the children in the public schools impacted feeling the effects of teachers absent from their institutions of learning.  When 80% of the teachers in the Region Six area (Corentyne) absented themselves from duty, there is no way that the impact is negligible, or that it is just another day at school.  When four out of five teachers are on a sickout, then the reality is that instructing and learning in those schools come to a virtual standstill, and the children are left hanging.  On the East Bank Demerara, the situation was somewhat better in that 40% of teacher called in sick, but it is still not acceptable.  Learning loss stares in the face and the longer that this situation persists, the deeper the learning loss.

Some learning loss (es) that came about through the grim COVID-19 period is still to be recovered, and this is problem for a country with a neat cohort of spectacular young highfliers, and a heavy contingent of unheard-of students who do not do as well.  The poor performance in mathematics is one area that stands out, and calls for urgent attention.  In a country with the kind of wealth that Guyana has, and one that needs to be more involved in its ballooning activities, there can never be enough engineers, geophysicists, and others in fields that require significant mathematical aptitude.  By any standards, this has to be a cause for concern.

From the standpoint of teachers, their concerns have been given the royal runaround.  The government (Ministry of Education) insists that it has been open and engaging, but the representatives of teachers have gone the other way and stated that the government has been heavy-handed, and acts unilaterally.  Also, teachers could claim that they have been patient with their issues held in suspension for an extended period.  They are issues with considerable teeth: better pay, gratuity enhancements, duty free concessions, and hinterland benefits and grants, with all featuring prominently in the list of 13 critical areas presented by teachers’ representatives to the government.  The sickout is believed to be the spur to get the government to move with energy and seriousness to get these issues addressed and be over with, without more delay.

In the present situation, the government cannot cry poverty, as there is considerable oil money flowing in and out of Guyana’s Natural Resource Fund.  Teachers believe that what they are asking and fighting for is more than reasonable, given the massive sums that are spent on infrastructure, but so little being centered on people, who give so much day in and day out, and under all kinds of conditions.  Our position at this paper should be familiar to all as it has been broadcast countless times: Guyana must renegotiate the horrendous 2016 ExxonMobil oil contract, so that there is more to give to the Guyanese people.  This involves our thousands of teachers, plus others in different occupations across this oil rich country.

Presently, the slate of 13 proposals presented by teachers is sitting on the President’s desk.  For his part, President Ali has indicated that he will be dealing with teachers’ issues about pay and benefits on his return from the UN.  He has been very clear: “there will be the adjustment for teachers.”  Though unclear at this point as to the specifics most likely being worked out, the President’s words give hope that this sickout situation will be quickly over.  The children who should be absorbing their lessons are caught in this crossfire.  There must be a meeting of the minds to close this out quickly.

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