Dear Editor,
The Technical Advisor to the Minister of Education has been reported as saying “the Education Act does not have sufficient teeth in regards to the regulating of private schools. It is a work in progress. It is far gone. It is just for us to do slight adjustments for that Bill in terms of what the CoI comes up with ‘period’”.
Notwithstanding this I do wish to remind those persons who were entrusted with the responsibility of redrafting the Education Bill that six years ago we were cautioned by no less a person than the Registrar of the Caribbean Examination Council, Dr D Jules that “our education systems no longer serve the region well. Tinkering with system no longer works. A new vehicle for empowerment and social transformation is needed” (‘Rethinking Education in the Caribbean’ Guyana Review Volume 18, Jan-Mar, 2011). Even a decade before Dr Jules’s caution, Prof Elsa Leo-Rhynie, a science educator and former Vice-Principal of Mona Campus, UWI, and now a leading candidate for the post of Chancellor, UWI, challenged educators in the Caribbean to craft an education system that was different in form, content and delivery, but relevant and adequate to take the youth of the Caribbean into the 21st century(Caribbean Educa-tion Annual, 2001).
Given the above I do hope that the drafters for the new Education Bill have the conviction and vision that it is possible to have a quality education system that differs in every fundamental respect from the current 19th century factory model that is failing us now. Further, I do hope that they have recognised the fact that anything short of a fundamental structural change is futile, and that they have seized the opportunity to give due cognisance to the following context:
- We have a nation to build.
- Growth and development in Guyana will depend on the speed and efficiency with which given attitudes and institutions can be and actually are modified and changed.
- Education is the most powerful instrument possessed by society to ensure that it is attuned to the times.
- There is urgent need to reconsider the direction of our cultural evolution and to “redirect ourselves”(Ian McDonald).
- What we want the nation to be, we must first put in our schools (Von Humboldt).
- There is need to promote and sustain a deep understanding of the relationship between education and nation-building by fostering development awareness and orientation throughout the entire education enterprise, particularly at upper secondary and tertiary levels.
- There is the urgent need to transform our 19th century factory model school system with its top-down hierarchy of management that can no longer serve Guyana’s needs into a quality education system by a) the professionalization and empowerment of the teaching service. It is recognized the key to quality education is the quality of the teacher and that ownership is the best motivator for professional development. Professionally, ownership involves full participation in the decisions that influence one’s work. Until teachers are allowed to assume the responsibility of a professional, a genuinely professional system of accountability is not possible. Teachers must be regarded as professionals, treated as professionals and consider themselves professionals. Schools cannot be improved without quality teachers and we will not get quality teachers unless they are treated as professionals. It is patently unjust to expect teachers to be willing to accept responsibility for student achievement unless they have control over what transpires in the classroom b) by emphasizing learning. The exponential growth of knowledge demands that students and teachers can no longer see facts and skills as ends in themselves. In the context of a developing nation facts and skills must be seen as the means whereby students can be guided forward to the point where they can decide not only what to learn, but to learn how to learn; c) developing curricula that are modern, integrated, provocative, relevant and that will stimulate the imagination of both students and teachers, and challenge them to think deeply, to generate ideas and become profoundly involved in some significant issues that affect the quality of life in Guyana; d) facilitating greater and easier social mobility by eschewing sponsored mobility and espousing contest mobility, cooperative learning and authentic performance assessments. This will encourage students at risk to stay in school and complete their programmes, thus enabling many more to escape from poverty and exploitation. This may also result in a reduction in crime, suicide and teenage pregnancy rates; e) permitting the kind of flexibility that would allow schools to diversify and develop curricula that are more relevant to the needs of their respective communities. It must be borne in my mind, just as a chain is as strong as its weakest link, so is a nation as developed as it least developed community; f) relocating, where necessary, schools to safe and peaceful environments. The research indicates that noise can dissipate learning by as much as 30%. Schools should be purpose-built or refurbished, and have sufficient land space to facilitate the efficient and effective delivery of all aspects of modern, integrated, provocative and relevant curricula.
To sum up, the redrafted Education Bill will need to facilitate a) the transformation and restructuring of the entire school system; b) the professionalization of teachers; c) enlightened management guided by the principles of collegiality, assistance, support and quality; d) shared decision-making involving all stakeholders; e) decentralization, diversity and flexibility in the development of relevant curricula; f) emphasis on learning and the methodologies that support learning (student, teacher and organisation); g) accountability based on outcomes and performance.
I am willing to concede that transformation of this magnitude will take time, but the longest journey begins with the first step. Anything less will be inadequate, and will end in futile attempts at redirecting ourselves towards optimal paths for nation-building and the attainment of national development.
Yours faithfully,
Clarence O Perry
