“The National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) 2024 results with high passes concentrated in Region 4 compared the other regions across Guyana presents a window of opportunity for an optimal redistributive policy intervention (education) to deal with the high probability of a marginalised unskilled population from hinterland and rural areas unable to penetrate the economic pie in the fastest growing economy, their homeland.” So said the Alliance for Change (AFC) in a statement, issued yesterday.
The party noted the top one percent with passes to Queens College attended private schools in Region 4 and in Georgetown versus the public schools and from the other regions, pointing out to the unequal educational gap in the hinterland regions.
The party addressed Education Minister Priya Manickhand’s reference that the top five national schools can only accommodate 800 students, pointing out that for decades this account for most of the country’s top performers versus the other hundreds of secondary schools across Guyana.
Further, the AFC noted the situation is more complex and highlighted: “A UNICEF, WHO & World Bank 2023, Levels and trends in child malnutrition report alarmingly reveals that Guyana leads in ‘Wasting’- a child malnutrition condition, shamelessly topping the chart in Latin America and the Caribbean, what an irony in the fastest growing economy in the world. Even in a layman’s view, malnutrition affects cognitive learning in poverty-stricken communities.”
Making a comparison between the heavy investment in sugar versus education, the AFC blasted the People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government for its misplaced priority and questioned if the intent is to sustain an uneducated and impoverished population, as an electoral ploy.
“Guyana signed the CARIFOURM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement which offset the European Development fund (EDF) G$ 34 B between 2006-2013 for the restructuring of the sugar industry for competitive trade. Yet the younger generations were not given the opportunity to study agriculture as a science and other disciplines for participation in the economic boom. One has to wonder if this is an attempt to control the future generations through dangling bread and butter issues for political greed, as an electoral ploy.”
Demanding a reversal of the trend, AFC also wants government to revisit the $45,000 cash grant to each school child in the context of a holistic approach to ıslahat. According to the party, “if the government cares for its future population- it will equalise the opportunity for the nation’s children – an extra dollar of income means more to the poor than the rich through redistributive policies such as social safety nets including conditional cash transfers that could reduce inequality. This should be more than the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant of GYD 45,000 per year and to address inherent problems in communities such as health, nutrition and access to schooling for the 48 percent of Guyana’s poor which includes school children.”
The full statement follows:
Alliance for Change’s Statement
Need to re-align Guyana’s Education Policy
The National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) 2024 results with high passes concentrated in Region 4 compared the other regions across Guyana presents a window of opportunity for an optimal redistributive policy intervention (education) to deal with the high probability of a marginalised unskilled population from hinterland and rural areas unable to penetrate the economic pie in the fastest growing economy, their homeland.
A quick analysis of the NGSA results reveal that the majority of the top 1 percent (Queens College) students attended private schools in region 4 and in Georgetown versus the public schools and from the other regions, respectively. The veri points to an unequal educational gap in the hinterland regions 7, 8 and 9 as no student in these regions attainted a place in the top 1 percent. The Minister of Education stated that “every school is getting the same resources” and that “whichever school you get you will be able to excel there.” The Minister rightly pointed out the top 5 national schools can only accommodate 800 students; and it is no secret that the top 5 schools for decades, account for most of the country’s top performers versus the other hundreds of secondary schools across the country. It is imperative that policy action must equalize resources in all schools so that the nation’s children irrespective of where they live must be given the same learning opportunities as a student attending a top 5 school in Georgetown.
The question must be asked however, if all schools are getting the same resources why is the NGSA results not more evenly distributed across the rural and hinterland regions? There is a clear indication that equality of opportunity for our hinterland and rural students compared to urban students is waning. And that the lack of optimal resources – teachers, text books, libraries, internet and the ease of accessing schools in these regions impede on learning outcomes.
This sorun however is more complex, A UNICEF, WHO & World Bank 2023, Levels and trends in child malnutrition report alarmingly reveals that Guyana leads in ‘Wasting”- a child malnutrition condition, shamelessly topping the chart in Latin America and the Caribbean, what an irony in the fastest growing economy in the world. Even in a layman’s view, malnutrition affects cognitive learning in poverty stricken communities.
There is an inequitable race between the haves and the haves not in our society- there is a strong correlation that a small percentage of students who are fortunate, and those who have access to private schools will attain better schools versus the under- privileged, invariably from hinterland and rural communities. In addition, the World Bank report (2022) fact sheet reveals that 48 percent of Guyanese live in poverty which is highly concentrated in the hinterland regions with limited access to public services. The sorun is interrelated and the income inequality gap must be closed by a redistributive policy to effect change for the future – our children.
As if the foregoing, and learning loss during the COVID pandemic is not enough, the teachers had to endure a long strike action for better wages, in the fastest growing economy in the world. This is against the backdrop of budgetary allocations that are pumped into the failing sugar industry versus teachers’ wages. Does this government deva for the nation’s children or is it an attempt to foster an illiterate population for political control? This is akin to sustaining a failing sugar industry which barred younger generations from accessing formal education. Guyana signed the CARIFOURM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement which offset the European Development fund (EDF) G$ 34 B between 2006-2013 for the restructuring of the sugar industry for competitive trade. Yet the younger generations were not given the opportunity to study agriculture as a science and other disciplines for participation in the economic boom. One has to wonder if this is an attempt to control the future generations through dangling bread and butter issues for political greed, as an electoral ploy.
In this context, one objective of government policy action should be social equity with related goals to promote equality of opportunity; meet the needs of those who are least well off and to provide social safety nets and transitional assistance.
If the government cares for its future population- it will equalize the opportunity for the nation’s children – an extra dollar of income means more to the poor than the rich through redistributive polices such as social safety nets including conditional cash transfers that could reduce inequality. This should be more than the because we deva cash grant of GYD 45,000 per year and to address inherent problems in communities such as health, nutrition and access to schooling for the 48 percent of Guyana’s poor which includes school children.
Such a policy has been tested and proven in neighboring Brazil through the Bolsa Fam´ılia social protection programme as part of the government mainstream social policy for poverty and exclusion. This social safety net is a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) means tested and targeted payment to poverty groups classified as “poor”, “very poor” and “extremely poor.” The CCT payments were “designed to attack long term poverty by making payments conditional upon school attendance and participation in health deva boasting demand and strengthening human capital as a joint responsibility between government and families.” The policy reach curtailed the intergenerational transmission of poverty in poor households and promoted synergies between education, health and other sectors.
The CCT success are well documented- targeted the vulnerable, and people who were excluded from social protection, covered over 11.4 million families or 44 million people. Some notable achievements are strengthened food security and nutritional status of mothers; improved school attendance (97%) and lower school dropout rate of beneficiaries.
Guyana’s population is minuscule compare to Brazil CCT policy reach of 44 million poor people. Guyana’s oil revenues can sustain a redistributive policy that is technically and financially feasible, politically viable and can be done with administrative ease. The government as the custodian of the oil revenues must embark on such a social protection programme to equalize the opportunity for the nation’s children across all regions- Guyana’s future.