Dear Editor,
Six years after the 17 yr old Kelly Hyles left her small village in Guyana for the United States, she distinguished herself by becoming a straight A student and earning acceptance into 21 universities and 8 of the top universities in the United States. There is no doubt in my mind that the Guyanese cultural focus on academics played a role in her success; a necessary role, but not alone sufficient for this level of achievement.
Ms Hyles lends us a view into the world of opportunity and resources available to her in the United States. Her family was not wealthy, in fact, her single parent mom worked two jobs to make ends meet in the family; not an unusual story among black families in the United States, and yet, Kelly was able to access the resources to prepare her to earn Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) scores high enough to attend one of the nine prestigious “specialized” institutions that are often seen as informal feeders for the Ivy League. Only 5,000 out of approximately 25,000 students who took the test were offered admissions to these college-prep schools, less than 200 of those students have been black in recent years.
But indeed the difficulty of her feat does not end there, as one of a tiny handful of black students in her school, she would have to continue to achieve in accelerated classes with the some of the best prepared students in the United States. In this environment, she earned straight A grades, making her achievements all the more laudable. This young lady is indeed remarkable.
By all measures, Kelly Hyles is a hard working and determined young lady but even she will admit to no unusual gift of genius; which brings me to the question of why more of our young students in Guyana aren’t being prepared to achieve at this level? The following issues raise more questions than answers and warrant immediate attention from stakeholders;
- Are all students in Guyana being comparably prepared at the primary level to perform well on the Common Entrance exam which begins to sift and separate them for various qualities of education in secondary school?
- Is the curriculum in all schools sufficiently rigorous to prepare students for a future where technology will underpin every industry?
- Are we fostering creativity and innovation in schools or are we continuing to embrace academic environments where following orders and regurgitating facts are rewarded?
- Why do we accept schools that are under-resourced, with poor toilet facilities, substandard classrooms and recreation areas, limited opportunities for research and competition and under-trained teachers who still embrace corporal punishment in the classroom, then wonder why our children are unmotivated, underperforming and unprepared for the future?
Even if we have scant regard for ourselves, citizens of Guyana must care for our nation’s children. It matters not which political party is leading the country, we must be uncompromising in our demand for high standards and a quality education for our nation’s children.
Citizens must love Guyana’s children enough to hold politicians accountable and insist that schools meet basic standards necessary for preparing students to develop the nation’s untapped potential. Citizens must demand that the Ministry of Education share the plan for the improvement of the nation’s schools. Citizens must organize to highlight and reward outstanding teachers and students, even if governments are slow to react. Citizens must access online resources to supplement the education provided to their students in school; the principles of Math and Science, after all, are universal.
Citizens of Guyana must not rest until every single student has equal access to a quality education. All students won’t perform at the same level, but all students should be given the opportunity to. Absent that, Guyana will continue to import and pay a premium for resources from foreign countries to develop Guyana; our talented students will continue to leave our shores and use their talents to develop other countries; unemployment and underemployment will continue to plague the nation as graduates find themselves unprepared for a future which will require more technical and critical thinking skills.
In the final analysis, we must love our children enough to hold all leaders accountable, to hold them to their promises and to challenge them to pay more than lip service to the development of the nation’s children.
Yours faithfully,
Karen Abrams
Concerned mother of 4
