There is a strong case for establishment of Sixth Form schools in every region of Guyana

Dear Editor,

I wish to congratulate all those students who have excelled at this year’s CSEC and CAPE examinations. I also would like to encourage those students who have not done so well to continue to strive to improve on their performance levels. I know of several persons who have not made it at their first attempt at the GCE/CXC exams but went on to become doctors, lawyers and leading professionals by virtue of determination and the will to succeed. As someone once said, it is not the power to achieve but the will to conquer that is the driving force behind every successful individual.

It is good to know that rural schools are performing better at the CXC examinations. I think there is a strong case for the establishment of Sixth Form schools in every region of Guyana to allow for our rural and hinterland students to have access to the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

Our Amerindians students in particular have demonstrated that given the right learning environment they can perform as well as any. In fact the learning, and by extension working, environment is becoming increasingly competitive and it is therefore a national imperative to, as it were, level the playing field so that all students, regardless of geographic location could access a high quality of education at every level comparable to that on the coastal region. This may sound a bit far-fetched but given the anticipated flow of petro-dollars in the near future, there is no reason why this could not become a reality.

Moreover, there should be no room for complacency or ‘triumphalism’ on the part of the Government. We still have a lot of catching up to do in terms of bridging the attainment gap between our Guyanese students and their regional counterparts in the two critical subject areas of Language and Mathematics.

Congratulations are in order to Riana Toney of the Anna Regina Secondary School and Michael Bhopaul of Queen’s College for topping the country in this year’s CSEC and CAPE respectively!

Yours faithfully,

Hydar Ally