Illiteracy in Guyana

Sep 13, 2024 Letters

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Dear Editor,

On May 5, 2008, some 15 years ago, I wrote an article which was carried by the Stabroek News, entitled “We need a national conversation on literacy” in Guyana. This letter was followed up by several letters supporting my call, including from Clarence O. Perry who taught me at Queen’s College (https://www.kaieteurnewsonline.com/2011/02/20/towards-a-national-conversation-on-illiteracy/).

Today, as we observe the recent results in Mathematics and English, I wish that my call was heeded, as now we are far worse off than 15 years ago, when the situation was already critical. We seem to celebrate our high performers who take 20 plus subjects but ignore the larger national disgrace of an education system that is out of touch with global trends and one that leaves so many of our young people behind.

Today, I make the same call for a “national conversation on literacy” as now it has become both a national security / economic sovereignty issue as well as a sustainable development issue.

In my 2008 letter, my opening paragraph was “We need a national conversation on the state of literacy in Guyana. We are an illiterate nation. Indeed, illiteracy is a national disgrace. A visible secret that everyone hears and knows about. We seem to nurture, promote, encourage and reward illiteracy. Guyana was once the most literate nation in the British Commonwealth”.

Seems as if the chickens have come home to roost. To me, high failure rates in the two most essential subjects, Mathematics and English, reveal we have a national crisis of monumental proportions on our hands.

In 2008, I wrote “Culturally, illiteracy has become an integral part of national life. Our DJs abuse the English language with relentless fervor. Most of our advertisements highlight a degree of illiterate thinking and poor English that are surpassed only by their make-believe and vile content. It is a hype to be illiterate in Guyana. Travelling in a minibus is a surreal experience in non-English”. Imagine Mike Tyson at a National Spelling Bee competition.

Guyana is a society that has been under moral, social, political, cultural and religious siege over the last few decades. Poverty, illiteracy, drugs, violence, gender abuse, corruption and the loss of civility, collectively create the environment of cascading illiteracy in our society. With Spanish speaking migrants now in Guyana in large numbers, the complexity of the problem will grow and so will the failure rates.

Failure rates in Mathematics and English are the tip of the iceberg. The traditional influencers in the society – the family, the school, the church, the media and the community are unable to comprehensively address key issues because of the overarching political climate, the lack of a strong civil society and the breakdown of key values. Poverty is a key reason why illiteracy, hopelessness and other social ills undermine education. When our teachers themselves speak poor English or are afraid of mathematics, what would one expect. We need to invest in our teachers. We need to change our teaching philosophies and methodologies. We need to re-mission and re-purpose our education system. We need to remove cell phones from our classes. We need to support families so that there is an enabling environment for learning at home. We need to invest in 6 national TV channels in which our best math teachers can teach our school children during specified hours of the week. We need to involve more technology in the classrooms. We need to make mathematics fun and English a priority.

I grew up in Mahaicony where many of the elders were uneducated, but they played draughts with young kids to nurture our logic and mathematical prowess. Mathematics was therefore fun and not a disease. In the USA, there are many underprivileged communities where chess champions are being nurtured.

Over the years, I have been very impressed with the ideas and concerns of Dr. Jerry Jailall. His insightful ideas about revamping our education system, especially how we approach Grade Six exams, should be discussed. Perhaps a Commission of “experts” (not politicians) led by Dr. Jailall, should be put together to address this national security and development issue. Without a strong foundation in mathematics and English, our citizens will be ill prepared to function in an oil related high-tech economy where artificial intelligence and other technologies will be prominent. We must remember that more than half the population of Guyana only has primary school education and less than 3% has tertiary school education (degrees).

Underpinning our descent into “illiteracy heaven” is the poor treatment of teachers. This crisis of education Guyana has developed over several decades and it will take a very concerted evidence-based set of solutions to rectify the problem. Much of this has to do with a fundamental lack of understanding of the problem or as usual, a simplistic political approach to a complex, moral, social, ethical, cultural, psychological and economic problem.

Our national conversation on “illiteracy” must have three ground rules. First, we should analyze the problem cold-bloodedly. Second, we must not blame, as we all are to blame. Third, we must seek honest workable solutions devoid of political, racial, emotional or financial motives. Setting up monitoring committees is the last stage of a multi-tiered continuous process of re-inventing our education system. Monitoring poverty or illiteracy will not solve the problem. The system is part of the problem. Vision is part of the problem. At one time, the Asian Tigers spent 12% of GDP on education for an extended period of time.

This is not brain surgery. The Commission should have experienced educators and individuals who understand development. As Mike Tyson should not be invited to participate in a Spelling Bee contest, so shall the usual political surrogates not be invited to the Commission. This is about national security.

Illiteracy cannot be solved just by the Ministry of Education. As Clarence O. Perry indicated, illiteracy has to be tacked in a coherent and holistic manner as “This condition demands a collaborative approach involving several ministries (Education, Finance, Health, Housing, Human Services and Labour, Youth, Sports and Culture), and the Private Sector”. The Family is also a very important stakeholder

The problem at hand is one that will determine our children’s future and our legacy to them. We cannot fail.

We must not fail.

Yours truly,

Eric Phillips

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• Clarence O. Perry, education, Eric Phillips, Guyana, system

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