IN 2003, the National Strategic Plan was developed with the express aim of enhancing Guyana’s education system. The PPP/C upon its acquisition of political office in 1992, immediately placed education on the top priority agenda. At the time, the education system was suffering a severe blow. Formal secondary enrolment was a mere 36%, and the CXC pass rate in 1992 was 47%.

Many communities across Guyana did not have their own schools, which meant that students would have to travel long distances to other communities in order to go to school to receive an education. This was simply unacceptable. Not only was it time-consuming and fatiguing, but also expensive. The first order of the day was to build new schools, especially in communities where schools previously did not exist.

The government, in collaboration with the International Development Bank (IDB), established the Premier Education Improvement Project (PEIP) to create new schools where they previously did not exist. A massive literacy programme was also launched, with a $125 million commitment from the government in the 2010 national budget, and an additional $251 million in the 2011 national budget.

Since 1992, many new schools have been built, and many have been refurbished and rehabilitated. For example, prior to 1992, there was only one school in Region 9. Today, there are three functioning schools in that region, one at Aishalton, one at Annai, and one at St. Ignatius, in the Lethem community.  Two new schools were also built in Region 8 in the Paramakotoi and at Mahdia communities, as there were no schools in this entire region. While in Region 7, there was a school in Bartica, this was the only school in that region. The government has since built a new school in the Waramadong community, located in the Upper-Mazaruni district. Two new schools were built in Region 1, and rehabilitated the one that previously existed in this region. Presently, the students of Region 1 occupy three schools, in the Santa Rosa, the Port Kaituma, and the North West communities. The Covent John School which was occupied by the Ministry of Education before the PPP was elected to government was subsequently handed back over to that community when this government came to power. Also, a new school was built in Region 9, and many of the schools in Region 6 were redone and expanded, to adequately accommodate students.

Although the education system was generally enhanced, this feature will focus exclusively on the accomplishments in Amerindian education. Region 9, otherwise known as the Upper Takatu, comprises the Aishalton District, the district of Annai, the Lethem district. It occupies a massive area of 57,750 km2, with a population count of 19,387, as documented by the 2002 census. Region 8, the Potario-Siparuni, occupies a landmass of 20, 051 km2, and is home to a population of 10,095 Amerindians. The two main districts in this region are Paramakotoi and Mahdia. Region 7, the Cuyuni-Mazaruni, occupies an area land-mass of 47,213 km2, with a population of 17,597 Amerindians that call its districts home. These districts are Bartica and Waramadong. Region 1, called Barima-Waini, has an area land-mass of 20,339 km2, and is home to a population of 24,275 Amerindians. The region’s main districts are Mabaruma, Santa Rosa, and Port Kaituma, commonly known as the North-West. In another feature on Amerindian culture, I will expand on these different Amerindian villages, and the different tribes that inhabit these villages.

The Digest of Education Statistics of Guyana 2007- 2008 recorded that in the traditional Amerindian villages, Regions 9, 8, 7 and 1, there is a total of 47 public nursery schools, i.e., 30, 2, 4, and 11, respectively. In each of these districts, there are 66, 18, 50, and 47 teachers, respectively. 2952 nursery students were formally enrolled in these Amerindian Districts.

The report also stated that there are 42 public primary schools in Region 1, 28 in Region 7, 21 in Region 8, and 46 in Region 9. In total, 15,300 primary students formally enrolled in these districts, with 2136 teachers in Region 1, 125 in Region 7, 58 in Region 8, 148 in Region 9. This means that the ratio of students per teacher in Amerindian Districts ranges from 24 in Region 7 to 30 in Region 9.

The Amerindian Districts altogether house 9 general secondary schools; enrollment of 1,323 was recorded in 2007- 2008, with 145 teachers posted at these schools, placing student per teacher ratio between 41 in Region 1 to 55 in Region 8. There is also a community high school in Region 1, which boasted a 305 student enrollment during the 2007- 2008 period, with 7 teachers assigned to that school. All of these general secondary schools were built with residential facilities to cater for live-in students.

Teachers in hinterland communities are also given different incentives and allowances by the state, such as additional income to cover housing and transportation by road and see. And hinterland scholarship fund was expanded to enable Amerindian children to attend secondary schools outside their communities.

More than 67,000 Amerindians call this country home. These Amerindians belong to more than nine different tribes and are settled in 120 different indigenous communities across Guyana. Accounting for 9% of the population, the Amerindians are the most socially disadvantaged ethnic group in Guyana. No other ethnicity in this country has experienced the level of social and economic disadvantage that this group has for decades, endured.
The current administration understands that the education of all Guyanese is the responsibility of the government. This responsibility is one that no government can abandon; one that every government should make a priority. The Amerindians play an integral role in Guyana’s history, culture and existence, but even as our first people, they are the most disadvantaged group in Guyana. Educational empowerment is one way in which the government hopes to correct this state of perpetual disadvantage which history has placed them.