IN colonial Guyana, the Governmental authorities arranged it that in almost every month there would be a public holiday.  The raison d’etre of these several holidays was religious, such as Good Friday, socio-political such as Emancipation Day, political such as Empire Day and others without very much significance such as May Day and Clementi Day.  The major reason for having 14 holidays per year was to give working people two weeks leave annually, since there were no laws prescribing any obligatory leave.

At independence, the colonial holiday structure was revised and some of the holidays of little consequence were omitted and new ones introduced.  Among the most important of the new holidays were the national-political ones of Republic Day on 23rd February and Independence Day on 26th May.  The number of public holidays per annum was kept at 14, but new Labour Laws were passed giving every employee annual leave of two weeks.  This caused the original reason for having 14 public holidays to be forgotten.

On Friday last, 26th May, Independence Day was celebrated.  Independence Day, like Republic Day had a great deal of governmental inputs including flag-raising ceremonies countrywide, fire-works and military parades.  Our leaders from both the Government and Opposition took the opportunity of addressing the nation.  Private individuals and groups also took the opportunity of organising parties and fetes of various kinds.
Independence Day, like Republic Day, was subject to the injection of much party politics from their inception and this was inevitable, since it reflected the milieu of the country.  With the effluxion of time, however, party politics have begun to recede and the Day is emerging as one free of political and negative distractions.

In planning future Independence Days, the Ministry of Education and Culture and other Government agencies should work out detailed plans of how the entire population could be involved, the teaching of the meaning of Independence, its historical and cultural significance and making it as memorable to young children as the colonial Empire Day had been.  Many older folk remember with nostalgia their childhood involvement with the celebration of Empire Day.

All aspects of the Day need to be carefully planned, so as to ensure they live on in the memories of the population.  The celebratory aspects should never be left to chance.  The streets and areas to be lit up should be carefully planned with the help of private businesses.  Fire-works displays should be held in every county and should aim at being a regular and expected feature as the fire-works display at the Washington monument on the 4th July in Washington D.C.

For several weeks before the Day, schoolchildren should learn to sing the National Anthem and other national songs and on the Day, should assemble at various important points in every county, where they would perform and be given refreshments of strictly local fare and mementos such as buttons.  At such gatherings, the theme of fraternity should be stressed.
At this season of Independence, the schools and other educational institutions should have talks on Guyanese History, letting the children know who they are.  The plural nature of Guyanese society should be clearly explained and emphasized and examples of the country’s various cultural strands should be illustrated in whatever ways possible.  This would help to bring knowledge and respect for the country’s various cultures and would result in greater national cohesion.

The media, both the print and electronic, should be encouraged to carry features of the various cultures of the country including the musical and religious.
Independence Day should have a joyous celebratory aspect as well as a deeply educative one, so that the Guyanese people would begin to know who they are and build up mutual respect and fraternity resulting in greater unity.
Independence Day 2017 did achieve some of the elements mentioned, but the aim should be to make the Day a richer experience each year.