THE results of the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) have been officially released. Also released were the results of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), all of which showed some positive and encouraging trends in terms of the delivery of quality education in the country. The results showed, in essence, that our children are becoming smarter and are adapting much better to changing education technologies.

In the case of the CSEC and the CAPE examinations, not only did our Guyanese students outperform their regional counterparts in most of the subject areas, but they have done so in an environment of the current COVID-19 pandemic which have had, and continues to have, an unsettling and disruptive effect on learning outcomes.

This is indeed commendable and augurs well for the growth potential of the country. It is an established fact that there is a positive correlation between human resources development and economic growth. Many countries that have leap-frogged into higher levels of growth and development have attributed much of that to the enhancement of their human capital. A study done by UNESCO in collaboration with the OECD found that investing in education, especially secondary and tertiary education, pays rich dividends for emerging economies such as ours.

This fact has been fully recognised by the PPP/C administration which must be credited for reversing the decline in education under the previous PNC administration to a point where Guyana is now among the top performers in regional examinations. This is no mean achievement and speaks to the high priority that the current administration has placed on development of our human capital, so necessary for accelerated development. Guyana is on the cusp of transformational and exciting changes and one of the main drivers of this new dispensation is our young people.

Education is certainly one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and it lays the foundation for sustained economic growth and development. Economists have generally agreed that human capital is a fundamental determinant of a country’s growth rate. This is especially so in what is now regarded as the ‘knowledge economy,’  which makes it increasingly imperative for an increasing share of the population to have the right mix of knowledge, skills and attitudes to drive the development process.

The recent results pointed to some interesting and encouraging trends from the standpoint of accessibility and equity of education in Guyana. The results showed that top performers come from both public and private schools, which is indicative of an overall improvement in terms of efficiency levels. It also showed that students from all across the country, including rural and hinterland schools, have done exceptionally well, which is indicative of an overall improvement in the delivery of quality education.

Of course, it is not possible in a matter of a few years to close the performance gap between coastal and hinterland schools, but at the very least the attainment levels have shown a marked improvement across the board, which speaks well of the efforts of the PPP/C administration to raise standards of education in the country as a whole. One significant development has been the democratisation of education access, especially as it relates to public schools and the gradual dismantling of ‘elite’ schools that had characterised a bygone era. Parents now have the choice of sending their children to public or private schools, which has certainly made the system of education delivery much more competitive.

Of course, not all students who wrote the NGSA examinations will be able to make it to top secondary schools. The number of places at our senior secondary schools is limited to those who are more competitive at the NGSA, but that is by no means indicative of any form of education deficiency on the part of those who may not have done as well. The education system is designed to cater for every student with ability to advance up the education ladder to the full limit of their potential and full advantage should be taken of this facility, especially given the fact that all children may not all be academically inclined, but may have aptitudes in other skill areas.

Regardless of how well our students perform at an individual level, there is a clear indication that the country is getting better in terms of an overall improvement of our human resources potential. This augurs well for us at this stage of our development when the country is poised for transformational changes. Congratulations are in order for all of our students, particularly those who have excelled at this year’s regional and national examinations.