PRESIDENT David Granger has repeatedly emphasised that, “Education is the great equaliser.” His Excellency has stated that, “One of the reasons there is so much poverty is because there is so much inequality. Once the child of a rich man and the child of a poor man have the same education, they have the chance to be equal and then they have a better opportunity at employment and making sure that you have a good life.” The truthfulness of the president’s position is unequivocal, self-evident, and beyond any doubt; an educated citizen is an empowered citizen who has a better chance at having the good life that Brigadier Granger wants all Guyanese to enjoy.

Education is defined as, “The process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits.” Evidently, education is far more than just “book-learning.” Instead, it is the process by which a person acquires the ability to be a productive member of his or her family, neighbourhood, community, and country. For example, education includes vocational and technical training in addition to academics. That is a view that has been underscored by Coalition officials on countless occasions.
Those facts considered, the David Granger administration’s policies, programmes, and initiatives are understandably relevant, and expectably effective. President Granger has said that every child should be in school and have access to formal education. He has promised to remove tuition fees for tertiary education at the University of Guyana; fees that were imposed on Guyanese by the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) uncaring regime. His Excellency has promised that formal education will be available to all Guyanese from the nursery-school level to the university level.

Inarguably, to ensure development, a country must necessarily invest in programmes that will bear fruit in the future; educating the nation’s next generation is one key undertaking within that category. However, simply and haphazardly dumping resources into educational programmes, as the previous PPP regime had done, will not work. Instead, a methodical approach is required. A visionary leader must accurately evaluate current shortcomings, correctly identify trends, properly predict future conditions, and implement a comprehensive agenda that is designed to guarantee continuous progress in a fast-evolving world.

The David Granger administration, based on its actions, clearly understands this fact. President Granger did not sit in an office and do guesswork; he went into the field and met the people, he spoke to parents, and he observed conditions on the ground. The result was a tailored educational agenda that the Ministry of Education was tasked with effecting.
One of the most successful initiatives is President Granger’s 5Bs programme. The programme, which was launched on July 15, 2015 – the president’s birthday – has, as its primary objective, increasing school-attendance of children in the hinterland. The president had observed that many children in interior regions did not attend school because their families were poor and could not afford transportation. Even more saddening, many children stayed home because their families could not afford proper meals. The president decided to take action by introducing the programme to distribute the 5Bs – which stand for boats, buses, bicycles, breakfast and books – directly to households and communities across Guyana. The programme has been a phenomenal success with more than 4,000 bicycles, boats, and some 30 buses already delivered. Meals are provided in some 200 schools and books are provided to children. The result is that attendance has increased by thousands.

With reference to vocational education, the president has noted that, “Unemployment, high as it is, it is being reduced through the promotion of self-employment and I am convinced that most of the young people, if given the training and opportunity, want to work and we must help them with the training and with the resources and the opportunity.” He noted that more than 400 community projects worth GY$3.7 billion are being financed under the Sustainable Livelihoods and Entrepreneurial Development Project, Community Organised for Restoring the Environment, Amerindian Development Fund and the Basic Needs Trust Fund. Those are in addition to the Linden Enterprise Network, Micro and Small Enterprise Development and the Hinterland Employment and Youth Service that have together received GY$1.2 billion in grants and loans for the benefit of 3,000 young entrepreneurs, including start-up businesses.

Evidently, President David Granger is taking action to foster an environment of an education-oriented nation. As government continues to take action, the David Granger government has allocated some $170 billion to educating Guyanese. In 2019, $52 billion was budgeted, accounting for 17 per cent of national expenditure. Obviously, the administration is committed to the objective of an ‘Education Nation.’
As President Granger continues the work of giving all Guyanese equal opportunities to have a good life, citizens are encouraged to support the administration’s efforts; after all, it is the average man, woman, boy, and girl who will reap the benefits.