IN the Times Newspaper on March 8, 2012 there was a report of a meeting between Chief Education Officer, Mr. Olato Sam and teachers of the Guyana Teachers Union, South Georgetown Branch. There are several things that disturb me about what was said by Mr. Olato Sam. Who is Mr. Sam to call students who are unmotivated to learn ‘knuckle heads?’ This is reprehensible behaviour on the part of the Chief Education Officer and an immediate apology to children and parents must be forthcoming.
It is obvious that Mr. Sam does not have the emotional temperament and maturity, professional experience and skills to fulfil the roles of his present position. Mr. Sam needs no reminder that it is the job of teachers to motivate students so that they find the topics and teaching interesting and want to learn. Do not blame the students for the shortcomings of teachers or the education system. He should look at himself and officials of the ministry.

Mr. Sam seems to be blaming teachers for some of the issues regarding the emphasis on examinations and parents sending their children to extra lessons. Well, these teachers are supervised and managed by Mr. Sam, the Chief Education Officer, Deputy Chief Education Officer (Administration), the Assistant Chief Education Officers for Nursery, Primary and Secondary. They are the ones who have failed to manage the employees that they directly and indirectly supervise. It is pathetic that Mr Sam is blaming the teachers when he should be looking at himself and other senior officers who have failed the students in this country.
Every year, the government spends vast amounts of money on the education system and Mr. Sam and his officials have delivered year after year a system where more than half of the students in grades four, six and nine fail the national assessment, where the pass rate in Maths at the CXC is approximately 30 per cent. Tell me who are the ‘knuckle heads’! It is so easy for him to blame others.
Mr. Sam’s expression of his frustration at the activities of some teachers is an indictment of him and senior officials, an admission that they do not know what to do to bring about fundamental changes in the education system, that they are unable to deal with the issues endemic in the education system – low teacher morale and productivity, low student achievement levels, low graduation rates, low accountability by senior officers.
Parents must be commended for wanting the best for their children and not be criticised that their children are ‘dragged off to lessons’.

They know that education is vital to their children’s future chances in society. The fact that so many parents send their children to extra lessons is an indictment of the education system. They are responding to an education system that places undue importance on national assessments to determine which school a grade seven students gets to go to.

An additional indictment is recognised by Mr. Sam, when he noted that children are no longer finding the education system to be enjoyable, that it is a ‘burdensome process of their lives they have to endure.”

Mr. Sam mentions that he is bothered that when he walks into schools, he sees teachers not giving their best, shirking their responsibilities as students are playing in classrooms.

If the Chief Education Officer cannot address this situation at a school and system level then why he and his top officers are holding those positions? Obviously, this explains why so many parents have lost faith in the school system and are sending their children to private schools and extra lessons. Truly a sad state of affair!