Dear Editor,

Those who would have read SN’s recent editorial (Saturday, June 19) on the celebration of Wilson Harris as a Guyanese writer, should read again.  Those who did not should now grasp the chance to do so.

It renews excitement for those of us who, not only have read at least some of Harris’s works, but particularly who might have known the man in his early and complex literary beginnings.

In its celebratory mood the editorial embraces other notable Guyanese writers, and takes the opportunity to bemoan our current indifference to reading, and indeed our inability to read – brazenly advertised in sections of the local media, for example.

Its message, hardly subliminal, should find particular resonance throughout the different tiers of the education sector, and provide pause for reflecting once more on the substance and current meaning of ‘education.’ A system which, either by design or default, produces a preponderance of under-achievers even when marked against a low general average, can hardly be counterbalanced by the comparatively small percentage of exceptional achievers. In any case, the latter largely represent that proportion of the population destined to escape from the existing compression of creativity and constriction of the imagination, to more articulate environments.

The successful completion of multiple choice exercises, actively supplemented by a daily profusion of sub-literate soundbites, is further reinforced by the virtual hieroglyphics gleefully being computed in ‘internet’ correspondence. The ‘average’ student’s vulnerability to the pervasive language of popular musical entertainment is reflected in mimicry, instead of grappling with the language that would more effectively express his or her thoughts and ambitions as a future teacher, writer, lecturer, or other career choice.

Interestingly enough the teacher (including parent) is likely to be caught in the same shallow stream of consciousness.  There are of course those who will rise above the challenge of relative under-preparedness to varying heights of professional success, and it would be a relief if, along their respective paths, their sensibilities are so awakened as to recognise their uniqueness and its compatibility with values derived from wider and deeper reading.

At the other optimistic (if not opportunistic) end of the spectrum, a generous injection of computer technology is expected to transform compression into expression, illiteracy into readership, misinformation into intelligence.

However, the day may yet be saved (and the night enlightened) by integrating books into the frame of technology.

Yours faithfully,
E B John