Dear Editor,
It was with astonishment that I read that the Government of Guyana is seriously thinking about recruiting overseas trained teachers (OTT) in an effort to improve science and mathematics education in Guyana. First, I must applaud the government for finally recognizing that we have a problem which has been looming for decades and trying to solve it.
Too often, the Ministry of Education (and the government by extension) is reactive. Proactiveness, creativeness and vision are missing and perhaps stifled; everyone toes the line fearing to be labelled a trouble-maker or get on the bad side of someone above them. We need planners and visionaries whose only goal is the advancement of learning to suit the needs of Guyana. We need people who are allowed to say this aspect of the system needs changing and here is the best way to do it, or this method isn’t giving results so it should be discarded. Often, this is not the case.
Teaching isn’t as lucrative as it used to be. Teachers are no different from anyone else in wanting their needs, wants and aspirations fulfilled. Many know for a fact that they will be poor for the rest of their lives, which is an irony for those who nurture and fulfil the needs of nations! To retain teachers, there need to be incentives to stay. Some suggested incentives might be allowing their children to write the CSEC exams free of cost, or attending the University of Guyana for free; giving them house lots and interest-free loans to build a home. There could be tax refunds based on family size (and your parents are your family as long as you maintain them). Teachers would be most willing to sign contractual agreements with the government as long as it’s a win-win situation for them. We need more action and less talking in order to keep our teachers. Perhaps we can after all learn from Australia and New Zealand.
And as for budget constraints, there is a huge loss of revenue from businesses that don’t pay taxes to the state. How can many businessmen in Guyana pay meagre amounts to the GRA? The GRA should go after them and help keep teachers in Guyana.
To attract teachers into the profession, students finishing a degree in the sciences should be a target for the Ministry of Education. They should be employed as soon as they are finished and trained within the first year via CPCE distance education. Most persons would be quite happy to sign a contract for four years, providing there were some financial benefits attached to their employment. Serving four years in lieu of their fees at the university would be quite attractive, and this would be dependent on their performance in the schools.
To solve the problem on a long- term basis, we need to look at how science (and maths) is taught in schools, starting in the primary school. Science is discovery, science is fun, science is observing, science is extrapolating, science is hands on, and science is concrete. Yet, this is not how science is taught. Most teachers teach the subject as abstract ideas which rely on imagination and cramming in order to pass the end-of-term test. So we suck the fun and the discovery out of science. This approach needs to be changed. We need active learning in the classroom, but how can we have active learning with forty students in five different grades six through nine classes. Class sizes need to be reduced to no more than twenty-five to make it work. Students will better appreciate science, and there will be a few in the set who will love it so much that they will be willing to return to the profession to do the same for their students. If this model is followed by all the schools in Guyana, we would not need to recruit OTT in five years time.
How can brilliant minds in science and maths spring forth from schools that don’t even have the basic equipment and materials necessary for simple experiments? Is there any primary school with science equipment as basic as a thermometer? I taught in a secondary school and I had to go to the nearby school to borrow burettes and thermometers because the school had none. In fact, it was only when a VSO came to the school and heard our passionate pleas that she applied for a grant and graciously bought the department some physics equipment needed to teach at CSEC level.
In Guyana, we have the institutions that can supply the needs of the Ministry of Education. However, a lack of collaboration and common goals between CPCE, UG and NCERD has resulted in a problem. Incentives must be provided to students out of high school to enter CPCE and not only at Turkeyen campus. Other campuses should also offer pre-service training – Linden, Rose Hall Town and Anna Regina. These pre-service teachers should be given a stipend of about $40,000 a month at least to cover their travel and basic needs. (They should be given free uniforms.) They would be expected to be in a school at least one day a week to assist and get hands on experience in the profession. Second, the science curriculum at CPCE is, sad to say, an utter waste of time. How can you teach CSEC chemistry to teacher-trainees and expect them to go out and prepare students for CSEC. At least they should cover the year 1 CAPE syllabus so as to be ready to teach Physics, Chemistry and Biology to grade 10 and 11 students. It’s no wonder that most science teachers after completing their training opt to teach integrated science and biology.
The Government of Guyana wants to recruit OTT yet for years the Berbice campus hasn’t had a science and maths option for teachers who are in the education programme. Teachers who were trained in science and maths in CPCE have to take social studies and administration as their options.
With all the different units at NCERD, why can’t they provide the necessary training for teachers to cope with the needs of students in science and maths? A need which can instil in students a deep appreciation for those subjects so as to guarantee they will return as science and maths teachers down the road. Take a look at the text books that students share in groups in schools. To begin with, many schools don’t have textbooks. The science texts are riddled with inaccuracies and sometimes the text doesn’t conform to the curriculum guide provided by the Ministry of Education. These entities have to work together in unison so as to cater for the needs of the present generation.
It would be highly unfair to teachers in Guyana and students finishing CSEC and the University of Guyana to have teachers come into Guyana and take up potential jobs. Would these teachers be paid the same US$300 a month as the trained teachers here? Would they be given other benefits not presently provided to local teachers? If so, it may actually create more of a problem than a solution. Local teachers’ morale would suffer and this is going to be more of a reason to seek the fertile grounds of The Bahamas or elsewhere.
In conclusion, while recruiting OTT may relieve the temporary needs of the Ministry of Education, it will not and cannot solve the fundamental issues affecting the teaching profession in Guyana – how to retain and how to attract new qualified individuals into the noble profession of teaching.
Yours faithfully,
Aslam Hanief
