THE New Year is upon us. And with a new year come new hopes and aspirations for the productivity of Guyana. Guyana Chronicle’s Derwayne Wills reached out to a few individuals within the country to listen to what their wishes were for 2016. Here is what they had to say:

We want to take a greater look at what’s happening within the regions, and serve the people in a better way. We want to better serve the needs of persons and children in the hinterland with the aim of achieving better overall performance in the education sector.
At NCERD, we achieve this through systematic training for teachers to understand where their needs are. We hope to be more data-driven at all levels, since decisions must be driven by data. We want to see the gap closed between children on the coastland and those in the hinterland. We are working hard in the areas of Specialist Education Needs (SENs), and Information Communications Technology (ICTs) to reach the growing needs of all children. ICT is the way to go, because we must try to ensure that teachers use the modern technology in the classroom, and children are increasingly drawn to technology. In literacy, we are not only training teachers, but also training parents who must recognise the need for their children to be literate.
– Jennifer Cumberbatch, Director of the National Centre for Education Resource Development:

To see the land issues resolved. We have to have the Indigenous Lands Commission in place to address these. Education must be the big focus because the Indigenous population is growing, and growing rapidly. We need to look at job opportunities for then. But in order to get jobs, we have to be appropriately educated. We need to have institutions. According to President David Granger’s 10- Point Plan, we need to take education to the people, which entails access to modern technology and information technology because without information, we would not be truly a part of Guyana. We would like to be truly seen as making a contribution towards the development of this nation, and to do that we have to come together. With more information, we can see what is happening on the coast and understand what we can do to play a better role in the unity of our people. This would be the best thing for our indigenous people now feeling ownership and being truly part of Guyana.
– Sydney Allicock, Vice-President and Indigenous People’s Affairs Minister:

I want to see more things for indigenous people in terms of development. I am not only looking at roads and infrastructure, I am talking about holistic development through education and economic activities. I would like to see the new government pick up from where we left off addressing the various issues affecting our people. I am wondering what happened to the projects that we left there: The Amerindian land titling, and Amerindian Development Fund. I would really like to see these things happen for 2016.
– Yvonne Pearson, PPP/C Parliamentarian, and former head of the National Toshaos Council

From an advertising perspective, we would like to see more clients. We are more willing to engage local talents. Too many advertisers are looking for foreign accents, and foreign talent to produce advertising designs for Guyana. This is also reflected in the DJs (Disc Jockey) on the radio. We are not embracing what is our own. We hear Jamaican, Trinidadian, and American accents, but not Guyanese. We also hope many more persons start to appreciate and embrace copyright, and start paying for more local photographs and music. Only with their support, local talent can grow. If you don’t nurture it and fund it, then there would be no room for growth, so we would love for creative freedom. From a Public Relations Perspective, we would like to see more aggressive fact-checking from journalists in their stories. I think it is essential that more journalists don’t just get caught up with the speed to deliver against accuracy. And from a theatre perspective, this year has not been a very progressive [one] in my opinion for theatre. I think the theatre folks have more drama on Facebook than on stage. They need to get together and work. This industry [which] is in its infancy. I would like to see producers paying actors a living wage, and for actors to do some reflection and figure out where they want to go. And on a personal note, I hope somebody fixes GPL.
– Ajay Baksh, Public Relations and Advertising Manager, Perception Inc.

Men need to prioritise their lives. They need to develop a relationship with the creator. Once you understand the intimate relationship with your creator, you will be a more responsible human. You will recognise how important it is to be a role model for your children, and in your community. Most of the males are troubled, not only because of their upbringing, but because they are not associating with persons who would help them develop; reading books that would help [them] better their lives. One of the major challenges of men is that they are not taking care of their health. Men need to take more care of their personal health. Not only their physical health, but in the thoughts they choose to dwell on in the day. Men don’t have fruitful discussions when they come together. We are supposed to be the foundation of the family. We had a men’s conference and President David Granger mentioned that men need the three Rs. They need to be responsible, men need to respect, and they need to resolve. 2016 will be a year when men must redirect their focus and change the flow. My life was impacted by Mr Roy Geddes who was a positive influence to me. His motto is “Discipline is love.” He defined discipline as living with restrictions and imposing strict guidelines on one’s self. This should be the motto of every male.
– Victor Adams, President of the Men’s Ministry of the Guyana Conference of Seventh Days’ Adventists

My expectation for 2016 is that we, in the media, have a fully liberalised telecommunications sector that will see us having access to greater data speeds, which will facilitate the faster dissemination, and acquisition of information for Guyana, and people in the diaspora. I hope that editors and publishers pay greater attention to the need and importance of ongoing training for staff members in journalism. We ought not to ever stop learning, so I think training and education are a vital aspect of our profession, whether in the private or public sector.
– Denis Chabrol, Veteran Guyanese Journalist and executive member of the Association of Caribbean Mediaworkers (ACM)