Dear Editor,
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.
Today, we are the least literate. The recent GDF exam taken by young adults showed a 17% pass rate for an exam 12 year olds should take. This should come as no surprise and it isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. Real life situations during the ongoing GECOM national registration would make anyone weep disconsolately. Many can’t read or write their names. Many don’t even know their correct names as written on their birth certificates. This current registration, like the previous one, highlights the depth of illiteracy we have sunk to. The simple act of filling out a registration or immigration form is an act of torture.
Illiteracy seems to have become the perfect cause for a nation that since Indepen-dence has been politically illiterate. Without literacy, there is no real democracy. When common knowledge becomes accessible to all, common values can be defined and pursued. One cannot be a part of the modern society if one can’t read.
Culturally, illiteracy has become an integral part of national life. Our DJs abuse the English language with relentless fervour. The majority 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 hip to be illiterate in Guyana. Travelling in a minibus is a surreal experience in non-english.
Our national conversation on “illiteracy” must have three ground rules. First, we should analyze the problem cold-bloodedly .Second, we must not appoint blame as we all are to blame. Third, we must seek honest workable solutions devoid of political, racial, emotional or financial motives. 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.
Illiteracy kills. The fight against the HIV pandemic has shown this aspect of illiteracy. Simple messages on how to protect oneself are not understood. A doctor noted that “adults with limited literacy face formidable problems using the health care system. They are less likely to use screening procedures, follow medical regimens, keep appointments or seek help early in the course of a disease.”
Illiteracy will lead this nation to more severe crime and racial conflict. This is because we are graduating large numbers of young people who have no ability to reason. Without this ability, more instinctual and aggressive behaviour will dominate our landscape. Mashing someone’s toes could result in being shot. Globally, there is a very strong correlation between illiteracy and crime.
Governance in Guyana is a major part of the reason the country is where it is today. Successive governments since Independence have driven ‘literate’ Guyanese overseas. Our teachers are everywhere teaching others. Some even went as far away as Botswana. The World Bank recently indicated this brain drain. Guyana leads the world in that 83% of its tertiary graduates have migrated.
A second political reason is our racial politics. Large numbers of Guyanese are illiterate because it is easier to convince them to vote along racial lines if they are illiterate. Because of this, elections are not a referendum on issues. Elections have become a racial census. A third political reason is our penchant for lying about the true state of almost everything in Guyana. As late as 2000, Guyana was reporting a literacy rate of 97.5% to international donor and development institutions (Jennings Z., Functional illiteracy of young Guyanese adults). This political philosophy of not being truthful, while it may have some political benefits, ultimately undermines any attempt to constructively solve many difficult problems.
Underpinning our descent into “illiteracy heaven” is the poor treatment of teachers. Placing unqualified political appointees into a system based on merit is a sure way of politicizing the educational process and creating a climate of fear in the Ministry of Education. My recent experiences with this Ministry has led to the conclusion that people are paralysed though fear.
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, the loss of civility and the widespread availability of guns, collectively create an environment of hopelessness and imminent danger.
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. Guyana has to have a growth vision for its economy instead of the vision of “poverty reduction,” a vision that cannot be accomplished without a growing economy. Graduates in Guyana have very few job opportunities available to them.
Guyana is a criminal economy and a safe haven for criminals of all types. The glorification of drugs lords in the media and in the culture in which known drug personalities are called “successful businessmen,” in an environment of few jobs being created, poses the question of the value of an education in this society.
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. The current approach by the government as prescribed in the G$114 million plan is very inadequate and visionless.
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.
To extend school hours or to have volunteers be the driving force behind any attempt to solve this problem is extremely short-sighted and will not succeed. Having favoured groups to lead this effort is extremely foolish when some of these organizations are themselves gifted with many functional illiterates. Any approach to the problems of illiteracy in Guyana that is based largely on unpaid or lowly paid amateurs, and not well-paid professionals is like ‘throwing dirty water on a duck’s back.’
Guyana must address illiteracy as a national priority. All must be involved in our quest for literacy. We are fast running out of time.
Yours faithfully,
Eric Phillips
