Dear Editor,
Kaieteur News’ editorial of January 6, 2008 captioned “Illiteracy is the blight of Guyana” is spot on.
I see applications for employment on a daily basis and I am embarrassed with what is presented from applicants who have grade 1s and 2s in English A at CXC/CSEC. It seems as if our school system, the Caribbean’s included, is more concerned with churning out secondary school graduates as if they are producing Xmas toys.
Similarly, what comes out of the University of Guyana, in the main, can be equated with GCE ‘A’ level graduates – or even below.
The dangerous prospect of allowing students to pass, at whatever level of learning, despite their sub-par academic performance, is to encourage them to have a false perception that they have a certain compensatory value. One UG graduate, who I once employed and who could hardly put together a coherent paragraph, demanded a six figure salary. I am sure that other employers are faced with demands for huge salaries from CXC/CSEC graduates who think they “have arrived” with their grades 1s and 2s.
What has happened to the principle: Because of, not inspite of?
There is a crying need for CXC/CSEC to be deeper in its curriculum which, over the past few years, seems to be a walk in the park.
Our functionally illiterate graduates have their parallel in the West Indies Cricket Team. They are bright stars in the shortened version of the game, but an embarrassment in Tests. Why? They are physically developed but mentally underdeveloped. The long haul demands what they do not have – mental stamina.
The sad reality, notwithstanding, is that they make millions. Perhaps that is why we have our youngsters passing through the school system with little intention to play in “tests”, but to demand big bucks.
Yours faithfully,
T. Jadunauth
