Dear Editor,
Amid continuous calls for a “saner” society, the time has now come to consider, urgently and seriously, the (re)establishment of some form of National Service and a revamping of our Army Reserves Centres and other institutions. It goes without saying that several institutions of the past, which served to positively influence and harness the energy of our youths, have disintegrated. Community Centres administered by the sugar estates and village councils are underutilised and poorly managed. Youngsters no longer engage in cricket, table tennis, volleyball, football, etc, etc as they did in the 60s and 70s. Debating clubs, leadership seminars, boys’ clubs, home economic departments and libraries seem to be things of ancient Guyana.
Those activities were deliberate, structured and functional. They produced good citizens, we need them again.
Today, much noise is made about how much money is being spent on our youths. But where is the output? Our institutions are dysfunctional because lip service and money alone do not make these things work. People have to be held responsible and accountable for making them work. Estates’ Welfare Officers must get the kids to the Community Centres. Teachers must teach sufficiently in schools so as to reduce the need for after school lessons, thus freeing up kids for extra-curricular sports, etc. It seems as if every village has four or five bottom houses giving lessons. Almost every child is taking “lessons”. The ministry of education must have games masters at schools to ensure that several games are played intra and inter schools. Sports develop people skills and leadership skills.
Sadly, three things have proved to be our undoing in Guyana:
1. The moulders of our youths themselves need to be moulded.
2. Parents no longer care for their children.
3. After independence, we threw out the baby with the bath water. We destroyed the institutions which produced orderliness and development.
Unless there is the will to objectively address the formative years of our nation’s children, our downward spiral will have no reversal. Thus my call for institutionalizing certain mores in our society.
Yours faithfully,
T. Jadunauth
