Dear Editor,
As the year glides behind the horizon, I reflect on the identity crisis and lack of a sense of direction amongst the younger generation. Having sat at the core of the education system at one elite school in Georgetown and one in the Rupununi, both for six months apiece, my experiences with the youngsters paint a gloomy picture for the future of the country. Few young people I met know what, if anything, they liked about themselves and their nation.
The young adults, in particular, are quick to be self-deprecating and disparaging because many of them think there is a lot wrong with their country. Of course there is, but it is just that a lot of wrongs need to be put right. The older folks appear to be associated with corruption, drug dealing, high crime levels, bribery and a collapsing economy and national values.
The Amerindians in the interior seem to have resigned themselves after being neglected by the political authorities who do not involve them in developmental issues. With bad roads, poor communication and health facilities, poorly equipped schools and no value-oriented system for communal development and integration, most interior villages lag behind.
Among the young people I have met, class has become an issue and no longer is anyone prepared to accept their place. Apparently, with the present state of affairs in the education system, students are not motivated to pursue education seriously. Their attitude is, no-matter-what-happens-I-am-probably-not-going-to-make-it, and if I do, it’s not worth it. Teachers no longer seek professional fulfilment, but look for financial security. Thus schools have become profit-driven learning facilities inhabited by educational consumers rather than students.
Teachers are more inclined to perform with the extra lesson groups, which pay highly for that service. For the students, success is measured by income or purchasing power; you are what your parents earn. Some teachers only give their best shots to such extra lesson groups, for competition is ubiquitous amongst them. That closes many doors to those from less affluent families, doors that might otherwise have remained open.
In Lethem, for example, the electricity supply runs from 7 am to 1:00 am the following morning . The satellite town thus has power for eighteen hours.
This is not to say there aren’t blackouts; these are numerous. Now, just across in Bon Fim, electricity is supplied 24/7. With such a scenario, the young generation in and around Lethem, looks at Bon Fim and Boa Vista as having better prospects than Lethem or Guyana.
Their greatest desire is always to move across. There are still enormous obstacles to social mobility, from education and mindset, to life in areas that are geographically isolated. Even in civilized Georgetown (as my friend Dianne likes to say), most young people aspire to move to the ‘promised lands,’ either Canada or the USA.
There is a growing gulf between young people on the coast and those in the interior, and between prosperity and poverty, both of which tend to be passed on to the next generation with an invisible Berlin Wall separating the people of the same country.
Everyone believes in something, whether spiritual or secular. Those young people whose aspirations and expectations are stagnant and unrealized turn to banditry. Music and drugs are the new religion for the youngsters. These guarantee a new communion and community that can be heard.
Most lose the thread of the search to find a fundamental Guyanese culture and identity. For each day of the year, I have witnessed some craziness in these youths with earphones stuck all day long in their ears.
Every moment finds them with little electronic gadgets, shutting themselves off from their local world. They vie for the glories spread through music and videos, be it love and sex, obscene language, violence, power, drugs, and suicide.
A Machiavellian attitude dominates, where the world is depicted as a jungle in which there is no reality but sex and power, where power is the reward of ruthless ferocity and cunning. In such a jungle the tyrant is king. Justice, liberty and equality thus count for little.
What is needed is a re-direction of policy as a new year dawns, for the younger generation to delight in being Guyanese. Some pragmatism, competency and respect for the future of the nation from the political leaders would reclaim the hopes of younger people. Political commitment to good governance and sound policies can guide us towards universal standards of the common good, especially for the younger generation. Politics is thus not a game of power, but of service.
Yours faithfully,
Clyde B Chakupeta
Well put!!!
Well said!The need to put in place more empahsis on the education system and the government need to offer something positive in return for the young generation in Guyana to want to study and have positive attitudes for their country.They need to know that there are no bed of roses abroad. If they cannot build a future in their native land, then where else woluld they go with thier lazy attitudes to build a better future. Good deeds begin at home. The wrong message is sent to the Guyanese people back home. One thing is living in poverty and another is decency and respect for their roots and culture. The positive side of our traditions, religions and culture need to reinjected in our children. I am proud to be Guyanese…and that is due to the way I conduct myself today. Not because of wether we had money back in Guyana or not. I grew up very humbly. When People ask me about Guyana in other countries…I always say that that we strive decency and respect and not material richness. Maybe I am naive to what is exactly happing to our younger generation today. But they are not at fault. Guyana needs the government to educate its population more about thier values.
…..urs is a misgiuded effort at laying the failure of the parent/s to correct the faults of their progeny to be worthy of themselves ,, this that is evidently missing from the infancy of the child ,, and is missing from the parent/s… so the wheels continue to roll ,,, leaving in it’s dust that which is the effects of mindlessness ! which incidentally is growing exponentially!!!
since when is the GOVT of any country on the planet responsible for the morals and values that MUST be taught at infancy and on to adulthood ,, the GOVT is responsible for their incarceration at the expense of the tax payer when they begin to show what they were allowed to bcome due to the parent/s neglect and to a greater extenxt ,, the EDUCATION system in GY ! where those who r paid to teach don’t know what to teach since they themselves r part of the problem ,, many of them grew up in the same void !…………
You are right. It is what you call primary socialization where a child is nurture from birth about respect and values for its society, religion and culture. But if you look at it from another point of view….many of them, their parents are abroad working hard to send money back home for their children and other family members in Guyana. What is missing is not only sending money and other material gadgets home….is also the message that it is not always what they see on TV and internet about life abroad. There’s nothing wrong with people wanting to migrate. Its a personal choice. What is good for goose is good for the gander. We all want that break abroad. But at the end of the day, we all have to play a part in brining up our younger generation today in Guyana…parents, family, teachers and politicians. Government, teachers and above all the parents play the biggest roles. It is very difficult because there’s no one mannual of what parenting should be.
Very nice letter.I just hope the decision makers read it.
…. i usually read the news b4 turning to the letters page ,, today was no diff ,, and reading Clydes carefully thought out failings of the govt,, who must be told abt how it’s failing the essential moulding of the future of the G’nese people as a society,, the children !,, of course this is not ,, in any way take away from the responsiblity of the parent/s of these who now r lost for any good to themselves as the next generation,,,
i left a comment to an item in the news where the keywords r re-calibration and re-orientation of all in GY ,, at every strata !
SN may find it offensive since all in GY by extension would include them ,, and so be it ,, since they r not exempt from oversight ! credence to which is manifest in their approval of comments that has no merit under the banner of democracy ! while “axing” others who r merely doin what is by any rationale what must be seen as progressive !
in the context of Clydes missive ,, my comment is very brief ,, a synopsis of his letter….. even b4 i read this ,,,
No, not really. Kids are not stupid. They see nothing in the Guyana and the Fourth World.They watch TV, and the news.They are,shall we say, wannabees US, Canadian, British. Their eyes are focused abroad.
Like your eyes were. Is it a bad thing? ISNM
The most,meaningful, phrase in CLYDE’S entire article, is the last phrase…..”politics is not a game of power but of SERVICE.”… THE REST IS STATING THE OBVIOUS.. When I was a youngster, .. My mother had to think and act from’mealtime to mealtime’ to work out where the next meal was going to come from, and most of the homes in the neighborhood I guess had the same problem…. no cars no TV,no NIKE boots….and more importantly, no one to tell us on a daily basis, that the governor or the President was responsible for my poverty,… and we were HAPPY,… AND WE WERE LED TO BELIEVE .. that success and wealth was EARNED via discipline, respect for others ,education and hard work.. .. the thought never entered my head that someone else was responsible for my developement… now what we have is a set of chidren who have been fed the GARBAGE, ..a certain politician(s) has to be elected for them to have a good life or opportunity.. what BULL,”.. . and have been encouaged by their equally lazy and ‘DUMB’ parents.. to guage their entitlements” according to what their ‘cousins” have in CAN..US.etc. or they are being discriminated against by somebody,…Oh Boy!!! such mendicancy; Do you really think Opposition Politicians want people to be better off and better educated,?etc…. of course not, when that happens they would have nothing to advance… they would lose their constituents…so come on Guyanese, its a new year.. see the light… help those who need help in positive ways….
‘we were HAPPY…and ‘DUMB’…such mendicancy…the thought never entered my head that someone else was responsible for my developement…Politicians want people to be better off and better educated,?etc…. of course not, when that happens they would have nothing to advance… they would lose their constituents…’
There, that reads better. All your words, by the way.
What are you, man? I grew up in the same circumstances you describe. We were happy because we thought that was it. We didn’t know there was better to be had. Now we KNOW otherwise.
‘..a certain politician(s) has to be elected for them to have a good life or opportunity…’ IS FACT! Why else do we vote these guys in?
Discrimination IS FACT!
Parents can teach manners and character and even ingenuity. Governments are elected to provide opportunity and safety. Giving then a free pass on either of those IS NOT POSITIVE.
The identity crisis is real because huge blocks of Guyanese hate and exploit each other. Kids, less able to rationalize, is bound to show the worst of this. They are as they are because THERE IS NOTHING HOME TO ASPIRE TO. And you and I, Guyflag, and all the governments we have placed in charge since independence, ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT.
So this year, let’s really see the light, and hold our HIRED EXECUTIVES responsible.
No hard feelings.
all young people in guyana i know just want to come to usa, canada, uk. they have no interest in staying in guyana no matter if the country gets better or not. it is the tv, ipod, iphone culture.
There is no great deal of validity to the position taken by you Clyde,” that there is a cris of identity among the younger Guyanese generation”. The inference that young people look at the infrastructural development of Bob Fin, Boa Vista, the UK, Canada or the USA to support your arguement that they lack national identity is preposterous. The world is flat Clyde, and as such young people sometimes find themselves preoccupied with wanting to know more about other cultures. They play educational video games; they search the WEB; they are educated by people like yourself, who instead on encouraging the kids you assert that they lack identity. Further, you blame parents, the Government and sophisticated technology (earphones) for what you characterize as “lacking identity”. I find it very frustating that as an educator you fail to understand the socio-cultural development of “youngsters” and quite willy-nilly lable it as “lacking identity”. I am sure these youngsters know the National Anthem;the Georgetown is the capitol of Guyana; that there are ten regions in Guyana; that Mr. Jagdeo is the President; that the official language is english. There you go! they are youngsters like you were once. Remember wah a play fuh school boy ah death fuh frog. ISNM
You are also right there. Its not a lack of identity. Its lack of direction by our educators. I don’t think that Clyde is blaming young people. All he’s doing is in fact pointing a finger indirectly at himself and other educators when he talked about teachers not paying much attention to the students. They give more attention to the parents who have more money and are mostly interested in making up for their bad salary by holding after class private lessons. And tell me about majority of the teachers thinking of moving abroad like anyone of us. Sophisticated technology…we can’t blame any one. We are entering a world where technology dominate. Its the control and respect of how parent and teachers instruct their children and students of where and when to use them. It should not be a priority in class.
Clyde – having taken time to observed those problems – what programme/s have you created/did personally to eliminate those problems?
I am not speaking for the government but generally that is not the case when it comes to most Amerindians. Most of them probably voted for the current gov’t as they did for the previous gov’t due to being infuluenced by the propagandists. Most of them hardly look forward for any thing in return, as many others Guyanese do, for their votes. So please do not use us to get at the gov’t.
C.B Chakupeta what a broad brush you have painted all of Guyana’s children and the system with. Every country and their children have those problems that you mentioned. Even the great USA (go speak with the children of Louisiana and many small towns you will see what I mean). I am sure you will agree that the very system you “lambast” has been turning out several of the top students of the Caribbean. By the way I have seen that you won a lot of friends with your article. Notice they call you Clyde as if they have known you a long time ago? Oh my Guyanese brothers how we are so quick to join with others and speak ill of our dear land. Where is the patriotism? AND BY THE WAY MR CHAKUPETA PLEASE TELL YOUR FRIEND DIANE THAT GEORGETOWN IS NOT THE ONLY CIVILIZE PLACE IN GUYANA. I am not amused.