AT this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), young Aisha DeFreitas from the Arapaima Primary school in Region Nine (Upper Takutu- Upper Essequibo) emerged as the top pupil from the region and the hinterland overall, scoring 517 marks out of a possible 527. That meant that she was able to secure a spot at Queen’s College, Guyana’s top secondary institution.

Importantly, she was celebrated as the first pupil from the hinterland to score a place at Queen’s College in a few years. While her success is truly amazing, her experiences were worrying and emphasised that we have much work to do to ensure there is equitable access to quality education.

During announcement of the results, the Minister of Education Priya Manickchand stated that the young girl had to move from her village of Rupanau- which is also in Region Nine- to Lethem to attend the Arapaima school. She moved because she did not have access to the trained teachers and adequate resources her family believed would furnish her with the opportunity to excel at the NGSA. And moving meant that she had to leave many of her family members and friends.

For context, Region Nine comprises many indigenous communities dispersed throughout the large region and Lethem is the capital town, where much infrastructural development and services are concentrated.

DeFreitas’ inability to benefit from a trained teacher and adequate resources in her community was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which placed a strain on delivering education in remote and hinterland communities where electricity and internet services are unreliable or ubiquitous.

Undoubtedly, it pleases me that the young girl and many of her colleagues can excel because it shows that they can benefit from an education system meant to serve them. But, when I think about the sacrifices she had to make, I cannot help but wonder how many children were affected. What happened to her colleagues in Rupanau? Were they similarly disadvantaged by the unequal access to the resources necessary for their success? These are questions that I think about every single year when the results of these high-stakes examinations are announced. And, it is no coincidence that one of the first questions I ask when given the opportunity is to break down how children in the hinterland regions performed at the assessments. Because every year, these are concerns that do not go away and for the past year, the disparities in the education system could have worsened.

In the absence of empirical data, I rely on my conversations and interviews with teachers and children from the hinterland regions to give me an impression of the challenges faced and whether there is any progress in mitigating these challenges. That is how I know that many children, particularly those in the hinterland regions, continue to grapple with disparities in education.

After the announcement of the NGSA results, the Education Minister stated: “The children after her [Defreitas] ought not to have that problem where they need to leave their village and go somewhere else to get the benefit of a trained teacher.” And the minister who leads the education sector, publicly acknowledged these challenges and committed to improving them.

Each year, writing about these disparities in the education system is daunting. Fortunately, this year, I write this column with more hope than I usually have (which is significant because I am a hopeful person). This year, I write this column after efforts were made to provide some level of assistance to children who were disadvantaged by the virtual learning requirements of the pandemic- that is, textbooks, worksheets, and other learning materials were provided to all children.

Added to that, the Guyana Learning Channel was expanded, particularly into hinterland regions, where internet for Zoom classes and tutorials would have been a challenge. In some hinterland communities, too, smart classrooms were set up to connect the children and teachers. This meant that a group of children in Region Eight benefited from engaging a trained teacher in Region One, for example.

These interventions are not the grandiose solutions that one might expect- like providing tablets (or laptops) with unlimited data plans to all pupils or reliable electricity and internet connectivity. Still, these interventions provide children with something they would have otherwise not accessed and used. And for me, that is an important first step.

Now, we have a good opportunity to assess how effective these interventions were and what else can be done to bridge the gaps in education delivery that exist. And, as some sort of twisted silver lining, we get to take the lessons learnt from the pandemic and develop a better post-pandemic education system (and wider, better safety nets) that is exponentially more responsive to such external shocks.

If you would like to connect with me to discuss this column or any of my previous works, feel free to email me at vish14ragobeer@gmail.com