Dear Editor,
THEN Norton said something that I consider absolutely outrageous. He said, “In power, Forbes Burnham delivered the most to the people of Guyana. When Forbes Burnham came to power in 1964, he didn’t have six secondary schools in this country. When he left power, there were secondary schools all over this country.”

So, let us examine what the 1992 World Bank Report said about those schools that Burnham left: “13.25. In the 1960s, Guyana’s educational system was considered one of the best in the Caribbean. Today, it is very probably the weakest. Learning in the schools, as measured by national and Caribbean-wide examinations, is extremely low, a large proportion of the teaching force is unqualified and untrained, and textbooks and other teaching aids are seldom available.

“Guyana’s success in achieving universal access to primary school in the early 1970s appears to be eroding and is accompanied by rising repetition and dropout rates. The sector’s problems are further exacerbated by educational subsidies which tend to be regressive, favouring wealthy rather than poor children and tertiary rather than primary education.”

“13.54. The percentage of primary students passing the SSEE is exceedingly low; in 1990, only 19 per cent passed English, 18 per cent Mathematics and 19 per cent Social Studies. If scores on this multiple choice test are adjusted for guessing, almost half of these students scored less than one sixth of the marks available. Inefficiency and the failure to learn basic skills at the primary level translates into poor student preparation for secondary school and, ultimately, very low pass rates on the secondary level examinations.”

“13.57. The quality of the teaching force in Guyana is extremely low, both at primary and secondary levels. Data for 1990 show that 38 per cent of teachers in primary schools and 42 per cent of teachers in secondary schools were either untrained or unqualified. The situation is considerably worse in poorer and more rural regions; 76 per cent of primary teachers in Region Eight and 90 per cent of secondary teachers in region seven are unqualified and untrained.”

“13.61. Limited capital investment in the sector has meant that very few schools have been constructed during the past two decades. Much of the capital stock is extremely old and dilapidated; Ministry records show that approximately 35 per cent of schools in use were constructed before 1920. In addition, facilities are often severely overcrowded. Visits to schools revealed, for instance, that facilities built to accommodate 150 students may house as many as 420. Learning is probably seriously impeded in these crowded conditions, especially since most schools consist of one large room divided into classes only by black boards.

“Limited investment in infrastructure maintenance means most structures are severely dilapidated. A limited survey of infrastructure in the sector in 1991 showed only 10 per cent of schools to be in satisfactory condition. Forty per cent need significant repairs and the remaining 60 per cent require substantial rehabilitation. Many schools lack doors and windows and have inadequate sanitation facilities without running water. Steps and floors are often shaky and have large holes.” (https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/ 339231468750549645/pdf/multi-page.pdf).
Editor, as you can see, the conditions under which our students and teachers existed were absolutely deplorable, just like the rest of the country at that time. The entire infrastructure was in a state of disrepair. The treasury was empty, and all of the country’s foreign and gold reserves gone.

And from the mouth of the then Finance Minister, Carl Greenidge, Guyana was bankrupted. It took sheer brilliance and the prudent leadership of Bharrat Jagdeo, ably assisted by another brilliant economist, Dr Ashni Singh, to navigate Guyana through turbulent times with an opposition that was hostile, non-cooperative and violent.

Those who were too young to experience the rape and theft of a nation under Forbes Burnham’s PNC, had a snippet from Granger’s APNU+AFC, and voted them out.

This World Bank report should be compulsive reading for all APNU Parliamentarians, for them to play a supportive role in nation building, and turn away from the destructive path that their leaders are hell-bent on pursuing.

Yours respectfully,
Harry Gill