Dear Editor,
It is with much amazement I witnessed that international copyright laws mean so little to certain elements of the Guyanese society who see pirating textbooks as the only solution to this shameless debacle. However, I do agree that expensive textbooks are a serious hindrance to accessible education for all students in developing countries. So how do we navigate around these troubling waters?
There is a simpler and far more beneficial solution to this no-brainer conundrum that seems to be grasping the government at this time. It will improve the self-worth of our people, provide opportunities for employment and will positively impact the economy at the same time. It is putting in place a formal unit for writing (and publishing) local textbooks for all levels of education in Guyana.
We have many skilled personnel who are more than capable of writing local textbooks that should be reflective of a Guyanese culture that international textbooks would be unable to capture. Caribbean textbooks are not even capable of capturing Guyana’s unique cultural, social and physical context. It would be very enjoyable and worthwhile for students to relate their textbooks, for example, to landmarks which they can visit sometime later during the holidays, or to names that are those of their friends. I was always puzzled as a student in primary and even in high school as to why I only had one book with local names: the Rampat family. Are we so ashamed of who we are that we only use certain names? I am amazed when I open a Canadian textbook and I see how it truly captures multiculturalism. Persons of different ethnic backgrounds are not only widely pictured in textbooks but in magazines, government websites, and advertisements.
Perhaps this recipe could be included in local textbooks to foster better appreciation of Guyana’s diversity.
Let us not run away with the idea that current textbooks which students use to study for CSEC or even CAPE are well written to truly reflect pedagogy and societal relevance. A good textbook reflects the goals of education of the nation and is a self study manual for the pertinent learning objectives. The general and (specific) learning objectives must be stated at the beginning of the chapter to draw students’ attention to what the chapter intends to provide. I want to read a textbook and have sufficient explanation provided so as to answer relevant questions that test different levels of cognitive thinking. Thus, CSEC textbooks must have the CSEC objectives that are covered by that chapter. Furthermore, this goes a far way in evaluating the usefulness of any textbook and will prevent wasting parents’ money in buying less useful books.
There are so many university trained teachers in Guyana that have no choice but to migrate overseas. If the government is smart and truly wants to benefit and retain trained teachers, then innovation is a must to move forward. Teachers’ income can be supplemented by writing a specific chapter in textbooks. Employ qualified persons, for example from the University of Guyana, to be subjects editors and then it’s to the printing press. It’s that simple and the economy will benefit tremendously in the long run.
Implementing this idea will take at least two years to be fully operational. But it’s a sensible start that is truly the long term solution to purchasing pirated textbooks. Make Guyanese proud: don’t we all deserve it?
Yours faithfully,
Aslam Hanief.
