Education remains one of the key elements that opens the door to enabling Guyanese children to face the difficult challenges ahead. As with all societies today, there are many factors working against a sound education, among them the ubiquity of television and video games; indiscipline at all levels of society, unfortunately some of this noticeable among role models in the home; there is also the modern-day get-rich-quick culture and the drive to materialism, which being major distractions, have served to place education on a lower priority. Too, we have noted the growth of malaise and the decline of the work ethic around us; then on the other hand, there is the uphill battle faced by hardworking single parents who have no time left for the kids at the end of the day. The reasons why education is on the decline throughout the world are numerous, but for Guyanese children, there remains one major obstacle that continues to affect them, and that is the chronic shortage of teachers who are qualified, dedicated and experienced.
The shortage is easily discernible in advertisements in the Guyanese media that seek to fill senior posts at educational institutions throughout the entire country. The prediction for the reopening of schools in Guyana come September is such that staff deficit would be only too apparent in major gaps at the front of classes. What contributes to this is not easily answered by the talent that left Guyana for further shores. It is also not wholly answerable in government shortsightedness and the lack of funding to train teachers. Part of the answer lies in the fact that teacher training is being done for export – either abroad to places such as here in the GTA, or New York; or within Guyana itself to other professions where remuneration is higher.
The fact is that it is mostly low salaries that have contributed to the attrition within Guyana’s teaching service, and points mainly to the departure of males from the profession, an exodus that has deleteriously affected the education of young boys and denied them the concommitant results in academic achievement, in discipline, and also in positive role models.
There is no simple solution to this education dilemma, and it is certainly not in what the government of Guyana continues to claim - that it has increased the salaries of teachers over the years. The remuneration structure is such that while this has been increased, what happens is it competes with professions that have a stronger monetary pull - enough to take the good teachers away from classrooms and years of experience completely out of the stream. And herein lies the other conundrum – since better salaries do not induce the competent teachers to stay, what it does is ensure that the poor performers rise to the top and stay in the current. Guyana’s teaching service today contains few examples of conscientious, committed educators, and as unfortunate as it is, on the other hand, it also holds many who are the complete opposite.
Salary scales in the teaching service out of sync in Guyana have also produced another negative spin-off — the extra-lessons syndrome which teachers use to augment their income. The thinking is that this has led to a culture where teachers do not push their charges during the school day, but instead reserve their energy and effort for the evening in order to justify the supplemental income. As we said, the problem is complex and the fixes are not simple.
However, we have said it in this space before - the future of Guyana depends on the quality of its education system and those delivering this service. What we did too was make the call here in the GTA - that the talents and experience we are giving to Guyana through alumni groups and visits to the homeland by experienced teachers continue, and even be increased. Surely, we can make a difference in young Guyanese lives, even from this distance.
|