50% of children in hinterland access secondary education – UNICEF

Guyana celebrated the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (UNESCO) World Literacy Day on Saturday under the theme “Literacy and Skills Development”. In this process, many urges were made for reading to be implemented throughout the metamorphosis of a person’s lifetime.
This comes in light of the fact that many persons in Guyana do not access a secondary education and literacy is the only way to liberate them from the stigma of being illiterate.

Speaking at a workshop, which was held at Grand Coastal and organised by the Rights of the Child Commission (RCC), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) Representative Sylvie Fouet, gave an analysis of the education sector in Guyana, which highlighted the fact that only half of the children in the hinterland communities attend secondary school after they would’ve graduated from the primary education programme.
Additionally, only 75 per cent of children on the coastland are provided with the opportunity to complete their secondary education. As such, literacy is important to sharpen their reading and writing skills.
“Literacy is a child’s right that is very important to a right to quality education but overall, literacy also empowers and develops a young person to become an adult. In Guyana, it’s very critical to overcome the fact that there are a couple of challenges that are part of school. Data states that 75 per cent of teenagers will access secondary school in Guyana and maybe outside the coastal area, actually its 50 per cent,” said Fouet.
She added, “Some may not have the chance and others may not continue along the study path. That’s why we need to study literature and literacy is a really good foundation. Also, maybe to give a second chance to teenage mothers or those who have come into contact with the law, literacy is powerful for empowerment.”
A policy was recently introduced to reintegrate teenage mothers back into the school system. The UN representative requested that the policy be implemented at the soonest to prove its effectiveness.
In attendance was also Prime Minister Moses Nagamootoo who linked the presence of literacy with the establishment of good leadership.
Chairperson of the RCC, Aleema Nasir also made her contributions towards the discussions which were facilitated stating, “This sustained engagement of the children and youth of Guyana is to provide a beneficial reshaping and reorientation in the thinking, approaches, attitudes and self-confidence of Guyana’s adolescent children.”
In the general world population, it is estimated that more than 750 million adults are illiterate, and two-thirds of this figure are women. Adding to that, some 250 million primary-aged children do not have a grasp of basic literacy skills, while 124 million children and adolescents are out of school.