Science defined by the Oxford Dictionary as;-
* The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of structure and behaviour of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

* A systematically organised body of knowledge on any subject.
Here the definition indicates ‘any subject,’ in other words not only restricted to the so-called ‘Natural Sciences,’ but even the Arts. A painter knows that very well, for in order to manipulate the primary colours to achieve a specific result his mix must be specific, that is, his approach must be systematic.

Of prime importance to the teaching of Science is its offshoot or application — Technology. Though the invitation is for me to discuss the ‘Teaching of Science in Guyana,’ I would instead discuss “The importance of Science and the need to teach the Sciences.” In so doing I would relate teaching of science to the need for harnessing our environment for the good of society.

I must also indicate that since we are talking about teaching, then of course one would need to consider the education system of Guyana, for teaching must by necessity take place in a framework of education.
When we look at the present education system, a very pertinent question can be posed at this juncture.

“Why do we shy away from Science, or rather, the Sciences?”
Guyana is often described as a land of many resources. Any attempt to harness those resources experience has demonstrated requires human and financial resources, and those human resources must of necessity be based on scientific knowledge
To answer the earlier question relative to our relationship to Science, a casual look at the evolution of the education system would be helpful.
In so doing I’ll investigate how Science and Technology were dealt with in the colonial British Guiana.

Early efforts at education: In the early 1830s Hermanus Post, John Wray and other liberal- minded missionaries were able to convince the powers that be that Christianity had the effect of inducing proper values amongst the enslaved population that were useful at that time. Thus, permission was granted to several missionaries to establish schools which focused on Moral and Christian Education for the enslaved Africans.

This mode seems to have become so popular that an extract from the emancipation package of 12 June, 1933, shows Her Majesty’s government agreeing to “defray any such expense as may be incurred in producing upon liberal and comprehensive principles for the religious and moral education of the Negro population to be emancipated.”

Even though in principle the concept of educating the enslaved African was agreed upon and the British Government provided finances for this education, it took two years to decide who should administer The Negro Education Grant. In the end it was agreed that the government would subsidise the works of the existing religious bodies: The Society for the Propagation of The Faith, The London Missionary Society, The Church Missionary and the Methodist Society.

This was basically what was inherited at independence — a system of education governed by the church and subsidised by government.
The preponderance of Grammar Schools at independence should not be used as proof, that there were no efforts to have a different education system. In the early post-emancipation days there was a recognition that the economic reality of the colony would be better served if the education system was adapted to meet the needs of the society. John Wray is cited as leading such a campaign in 1835. The manifested need within the education system then was for industrial and agricultural schools. In other words, education based on Science and Technology.

However, there were also the voices and influences of those who controlled the relationship between colony and mother country. The colony (British Guiana) for all intents and purposes was supposed to provide raw materials and a marketplace for manufactured goods from the mother country. In such an environment, the products of the education system would have been primarily to maintain trade records, and the systems required to produce the raw materials. In other words, education to facilitate trade between the two geographical locations, BG and England. At that time, enshrined in the laws of British Guiana were prohibitions to manufacture apart from semi-processed materials such as sugar, rum, hides, and logs; also, the only legally accepted trade could have been only with the mother country, England.

It is therefore understood why the demands of personalities like John Wray to use education as a tool for development were never implemented. In those early days it was because of opposition from the British Parliament and secondly, because the Planters refused to finance the establishment of such institutions. The fear of the British industrialists who controlled the Parliament was that should such education be promoted in the colony, then the locals would develop indigenous goods to replace those bought from Britain, with accompanying economic effects on the investments of the said British industrialists. While the local planters did not support, since they were asked to finance such education and felt that there was not adequate justification for them to pay for the establishment and operation of such schools. They were making enough profits with the arrangements as were, so why create additional costs?

Primarily because of the issues of language and religion due to the presence of indentured workers, in the colony, other schools began to emerge. Along with the church schools there were estate schools catering especially for the children of the indentured and later Colony or Government schools were established. These however were also basically primary-level grammar schools.

To offset the absence of industrial schools and agricultural facilities, which were deemed necessary all along, apprenticeships were encouraged. Youths on leaving school sought masters or mistress to whom they would be apprenticed to learn a trade, be it carpentry, black smithy, sewing or other. Sometime around 1910 a Board of Industrial Training (BIT) was instituted which formalised and regulated apprenticeship training for industry. Later, during the 20th century, Vocational Education became a feature within the primary school system.

For the most part, the planters’ children went to schools in England and technical skills were sourced from abroad (England): – Managers, Engineers etc.
Secondary schools were initiated when Queens College was established in 1844. It initially catered for the children of the poorer classes of whites in the colony and eventually admitted Africans and other races. Alongside Queens College which catered for boys, the church established Bishops High for girls and others followed, with each competing for segments of the population. These secondary schools were essentially grammar schools.
Within the major industries of the colony, sugar, bauxite and manganese, locals provided the bulk of the labour force. They occupied the lower technical positions and the non-technical jobs which did not need significant scientific training save and except for medicine.

If one should look back at the latter days of colonial time, the occupational demarcations were clear. Locals were excluded from employment which were science and technology-based, save and except where they may impact on the welfare of the local population, as in the health sector. From the local population came nurses, doctors, lawyers, teachers, accounts clerks, mechanics etc. and police constables; however, we were not the engineers, managers, production managers, police officers, and the like.

It was not until we attained self-government that many of the earlier wishes to have education responding to the needs of the society saw the light of day
In 1951, the Government Technical Institute was established and even though it predated self- government, it came at a time when there was much talk about meeting the needs of society. That institution at the inception offered craft-level courses and by 1956 it began training technicians and in 1961 it began to offer diploma-level courses.

In 1963, the Guyana School of Agriculture opened its doors for the first time with an intake of certificate and diploma-level students. The certificate students after graduation were expected to become farmers or farm workers, while the diploma students after graduation were expected to either continue their training to become agricultural professionals or to be employed as agricultural technicians.

When The University of Guyana, started in 1963 at the Queens College compound, there were no Science and Technology Faculties. The Faculties of Natural Science were added when the campus moved to Turkeyen in 1970, while the Faculty of Agriculture became a reality later.
On achievement of independence within the major industries, with the exception of rice, namely sugar, bauxite and manganese, all the significant technical and managerial positions were occupied by expatriates. The same could be said about the Civil (Public) Service.

The only nationals with an idea of those operations were clerks and maybe personnel officers, since they were the record-keepers, and many were catapulted into senior management positions
The footprint of such actions are still with us today, that we see permanent secretaries of highly technical ministries being non-technical themselves. The only ministry in which I am aware that technical persons were PSs is the Ministry of Agriculture. Thus in Education, Health, Public Works and so on we have been having PSs who worked as accountants or were “Managers.” I am not aware of an Educator becoming the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, similarly no Doctor ever became the PS at the Ministry of Health.

Likewise, we have had persons whose training were ancillary to bauxite and sugar production heading those organisations. From my perspective it is important for persons managing a system to KNOW the system. This is a phenomenon that is recognised internationally and it is why in recent times universities have been offering MBAs, to non-social science graduates.

Had our sugar industry been headed or at least if the analysis of what to do with the remnants of it (the sugar industry) been done by agricultural engineers, soil scientists and agronomists, we may have had different responses to those we are faced with today.

(To be continued)

Yours sincerely,
E. McRae