Recently, the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) commented on the low standard of literacy/numeracy of candidates taking the arm’s entrance test. This test, I understand, was equivalent to the National Grade Six Assessment which is offered to children under 12 years of age.

This is just one organisation among many, drawing attention to the poor literacy and numeracy levels among children throughout the country. The National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) of the Ministry of Education has done similar tests on children and the results are equally appalling.

In the 1990’s Professor Jennings of the University of Guyana (UG) carried out a literacy and numeracy survey which highlighted similarly depressing findings. The big question is: Why in an English-speaking country with such small population, this problem has not been eradicated? It cannot be that those in authority at that time were unaware of the problem. There was evidence all around-official and anecdotal-of the poor standards of literacy then prevailing. There was a National Literacy Committee set up when Dale Bisnauth was Minister of Education and many organisations have representatives on it. Approximately 12 years later very little has changed! Of course those from privileged backgrounds (with educated/wealthy parents) have done well - all credit to them - but the majority of children and young people are still unable to cope with the essentials of reading and writing.

Recently the Ministry of Education has announced that it will be funding literacy training programmes with an injection of over $100M, but I am skeptical as to whether this alone will make serious inroads involving g the problems. I firmly believe that in the case of literacy an independent Literacy Unit/Centre should be established with well-qualified personnel capable of training anyone who is interested in promulgating literacy. This Unit/Centre should house appropriate resource materials. I do not believe it will be beneficial to have the Unit/Centre administrated directly by the Ministry of Education; otherwise it will become just another bureaucratic white elephant. Of course it should be accountable to the Ministry, but not run by it. One has only to look at the gentleman who runs the Georgetown Reading and Research Centre to gat an idea of the enthusiasm and commitment that would be needed to run the proposed Literacy Unit/Centre. You are not going to find that sort of enthusiasm and commitment easily in the ministry of education or among teachers generally.

Also, in every school, primary and secondary, there should be a school literacy action plan, supervised by a senior teacher. I had proposed this to the then Permanent Secretary (Hydra Ally) who thought it was a good idea - and that was that!

With regards to teaching, generally, I believe that most of the apparatus for the training of teachers should be dismantled and the funds diverted to paying already qualified and experienced teachers who should be carefully recruited, screened and monitored for results. Teaching vacancies should be advertised here and overseas so that our pupils can readily have access to skills which seem to be lacking. I make no apologies for suggesting that market forces should be applied in education as in business, in order to weed out undesirables and attract the best.

In Peru recently, the teachers were given tests which they hopelessly flunked. There is no doubt in my mind that in Guyana there are not many teachers around with 5 subjects (including English and Maths) at the CXC/GCE level. If these teachers are themselves academically ill-equipped, how can they benefit children? They just baby-sit the classes instead of teaching and they ought themselves to be offered remedial help. The fact that standards of literacy are so low can be attributed mainly to the teaching profession-in spite of salary increases, time-off to study, duty-free cars for Head Teachers and other officials who achieve very little. What can be more important than having situation today, an impartial observer can only come to the conclusion that there is something extremely rotten at the heart of the teaching profession and the teaching unions (which are conspicuously silent on the state of literacy). This state of affairs has gone on for too long and if it is not corrected many children’s life chances would be put at risk.
ALGOO PERSAUD