Ability to read and write should be priority

Dear Editor,
It is during this period that proud parents boast of their children’s common entrance exam (now NGSA) results.
On the one hand, I don’t blame them for being happy and for celebrating, because it is quite a challenge getting a child to do well at that exam in Guyana, especially given how many topics are covered in it.
In fact, most of the successful students, if not all of them, do not just rely on the primary education system to succeed, but would be in receipt of extreme additional support from parents and guardians, and so on, whether in the form of extra lessons, extra supervision, or extra resources. And it’s those supportive parents and guardians who have every right to celebrate after all their sacrifice.
But, on the other hand, while a portion of parents are celebrating, several of them are in sorrow. For whatever reason – whether it’s poverty, or availability of time – these sad parents are unable to provide the support the other parents provide, and their children’s grades suffer.
In Guyana’s primary education system, children are not doing well unless they have vigilant parents with the resources and time needed to support them to do well. Is this a sign of the failure of our primary education system?
Guyana has a general overall literacy rate of 86% among our adult population.
Considering that, parents aside, we learn literacy in primary school (or are supposed to be learning it in primary school), is 86% a sign that our primary education system is malfunctioning? The answer to both questions is an emphatic yes. It has been for a long time, and is it malfunctioning.
Let me demonstrate.
Barbados has a population of 281,200 people, and a literacy rate of 99.9%, which means that there are about 280 people on the island who can’t read and write properly (that’s about 1/1000 of their population). Guyana has a population of 804,567 people and a literacy rate of 86%, which means that there are about 112,640 people here who can’t read and write properly (that’s about 1/7 of our population).
This comparison shows not only that it’s possible for our literacy rates to be extremely high, but it shows just how low our literacy rates really are. Imagine walking on the street and every 7th person that passes you can’t read or write. Compare that to walking in a street in Barbados, where every 1000th person that passes you can’t read and write.
It could be since the 1980s, or from the moment we became independent – I don’t know – when it started failing our students, and therefore our nation, but Guyana’s primary education system needs to start reprioritising fast, regardless of who is to be blamed. And I am choosing my words carefully, so that this letter does not come across as an attack on any political party (or Government, or Government official) past or present.
In Barbados, MOST of the time spent in primary school is spent learning English – how to read it and how to write it (math comes in second place) – and the common entrance exam does not cover any topic except English and math. So that when children there enter secondary school, they are really good, if not excellent, readers and writers; which in turn means that they are able to read more and learn more during their time spent at the secondary level.
In Guyana, however, way too many secondary school teachers are busy teaching children how to read and write, instead of teaching them the secondary curriculum (that is, when they in fact bother to teach reading and writing at all to the students who are struggling to read and write). We are putting the cart before the horse – teaching secondary subjects in primary school, and primary subjects in secondary school.
Primary education is supposed to be just that – primary. It is in primary school that children learn primary things. And these primary things are the much-needed foundation for learning other things. We cannot learn other things, or display that we have learned other things, like social studies, if we have not learned how to read and write. We cannot understand science properly if we don’t understand math. And furthermore, how can we understand math if we can’t read about it?
There is nothing primary about science and social studies. Way too much time is spent teaching these extra subjects at the primary level instead of focusing on fundamental things like English and math. Especially English. This has to change.
Guyana can no longer afford to have one-seventh of our population unable to read and write. People who can’t read are not just a burden to themselves, but they are a burden to their families and, in fact, to society.

If a person can’t read, he or she will have a harder time learning how to live healthily, and can end up in the public hospital, receiving care at the expense of the state. While it is an obligation of the state to assist the unhealthy, it would be cheaper if citizens could read and understand how to live healthily. If a person can’t read, he or she can’t educate themselves, and therefore can’t get a job; and some will seek welfare assistance at the expense of the state. Others will become desperate and turn to crime, which is a major reason why we have such a high crime rate in Guyana. If a person can’t read, instead of studying for a driver’s licence, he or she will be tempted to buy one, and we all know the consequences of that situation.
The list of problems that our society faces because of our high level of illiteracy is a long one. Subjects like social studies, history and science should not be a focus in primary school, and they certainly should not form part of the NGSA. Little primary school children should not be labouring with sweat and tears to learn secondary school topics, and half of them can still barely read.
If Guyana is to make use of her citizens in this information age, and in this new period in our local timeline filled with new job opportunities in the oil industry and related/ supportive industries, the new aim of the primary education system will have to be adjusted to ensure no child leaves primary school unable to read and write (and that all children are accessing primary education).
If there’s any basic thing that every citizen needs now, it’s the ability to read and write. And the primary education system, which is the part of our education system charged with this responsibility, has, for the longest while, been failing in this regard, and is failing at the moment.

Sincerely,
John M Fraser