THERE is a saying that goes, ‘The highest education is that which does not merely give us information but makes our life in harmony with all existence’ and Registrar at the University of Guyana (UG), Mr. Vincent Alexander, said the university should be a place where strategies are developed to assist in addressing the literacy problem in Guyana. “A place like UG, particularly the School of Education and Humanities, should be working on strategies to help with the literacy problem,” he said.
He explained that the University’s role is related to the research work that it does, from which proposals can be further developed to address national issues.
Alexander said, “In the Masters programme there are a number of people whose research papers focused on literacy.”
However, even as Alexander made this observation he noted that literacy and the University are linked in two ways; the first being how Guyana’s premiere tertiary education institution can address the country’s literacy problems; and because of the fact that the students coming into UG come from a society with these problems and so output is affected because the input was.
“Even as the University is part of the solution, it is also a victim of the same problem,” he contended.
In this context, he noted that the courses address remediation, but maintained that much more needs to be done so that a solution can be found to ensure that the “feeder” system is enhanced.
Mr. Al Creighton from the School of Education and Humanities faculty, in an invited comment, said the University has a crucial role and while its work is not part of the Education Ministry’s efforts, the two collaborate.
“UG staff does research and so there are times when we collaborate with the Ministry,” he said.
Creighton added that the outcome of the University’s research impacts the literacy campaign on a national level.
National Level Impact
He said, “There is more that we can do, but right now the work we do contributes to the national literacy impact.”
He pointed to several areas, including teacher training, training of administrators, the work of the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE), the UG Library’s ‘Reading is Fun’ programme, and the establishment of writing centres.
Creighton explained that teachers are equipped to address literacy through the Certificate of Education, Bachelor of Education, Post-Graduate Diploma in Education and Masters in Education programmes.
“In all these programmes we do literacy studies and teachers are trained so that they can go out and advance the cause of the literacy programme,” he said.
Creighton noted that the training of administrators is also important since, when these individuals enter the education sector, they impact the general improvement of national programmes.
At the IDCE, he pointed out that courses are offered to upgrade students before they come to the University, but added that more can be done here to impact literacy at a broader level.
The University Library’s ‘Reading is Fun’ programme, he added, has been ongoing for several years and has received “very good” response.
The programme is offered in Georgetown and at UG’s Tain Campus.
Creighton said the establishment of writing centres is an in-house programme to address, in a more detailed way, the literacy deficiency that students come in with.
“The difficulty we have here is with proper staffing… the right people to spend the time to work with the students,” he said.
Creighton explained that this is an addition to the University’s strategies to address improving students’ ability to handle the English language, better be able to read, write and express themselves.
Interventions at the school level, he said, are not much, but noted that the University’s research work assist at the school level.
“The work we do impacts at the national level,” Creighton posited.