Golf history made by Guyanese students at CSEC

For the first time in Guyana’s history, golf was taken as a subject at the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) exams by 110 learners and the results were absolutely fantastic, with 84 achieving Grade Ones and 26 Grade Twos!

Results were as follows:
* Anna Regina Multilateral Secondary
Grade One – 44  Grade Two – 7
* Rosignol Secondary
Grade One – 27
Grade Two – 10
* Friendship Secondary
Grade One – 2
Grade Two – 5
* President’s College
Grade One – 3
* Wisburg Secondary
Grade One – 8
Grade Two – 4

According to Lorraine Barker-King, Head of the Allied Arts Unit, and Kurt Braithwaite, who led the development of the programme in the schools, “this is the fastest we’ve ever implemented a new sport into the education system and the ease in which it was taught has taken everyone by surprise. The teachers and learners have responded magnificently and we want to congratulate all those who took the leap of faith to write golf on short notice at CSEC and achieve such a high pass rate.”
It was only in January 2021, they were alerted by Assistant Director of Sport, Melissa Dow-Richardson from the Culture, Youth and Sport Ministry that golf was on the PE syllabus for CSEC. Golf was the only sport that met the COVID-19 restrictions, so the plan was to include golf on the PE curriculum and allow students to take it as an elective at the CSEC examinations. Despite the odds, the monumental task was accomplished with the strong support of the Education Ministry’s Allied Arts Unit, donors, and overseas supporters.
In March 2021, six schools entered into a pilot programme and a “Train the Trainers” programme was developed along with a syllabus and examination guidelines for teachers. By the end of 2021, teachers from 102 secondary schools had gone through the programme, and amazingly, over 100 students had decided to take golf at CSEC in 2022.
When the results were announced in September, it was evident that not only was the programme a success in a very short time, but Guyanese students had made history by taking a never-before-played sport and excelling at it.
Today, it is hard to ignore a sport that has captured the attention and imagination of thousands around the country and with an additional 5000 trainee teachers and 6000 university students set to be exposed to the sport in the coming months, it is anticipated that golf will become one of the most played sports in Guyana, rivalling cricket and football.