Dear Editor,
After 47 years of managing our own affairs of state, Mr Walter Alexander is moved to remind Guyanese that “we still have a nation to buiId!” (SN, May 27). I would have thought that by now most adult Guyanese would have been aware of, have understood the implications, and would have been committed to the process of building a democratic and prosperous Guyanese nation with the capacity for sustainable growth and development. However, it is apparent that this is not the case. There are still many adults who belong in one of the following groups: 1) those who are not aware of the nation-building process; 2) those who may be aware, but do not understand its implications, and therefore are not committed to the process; and 3) those who are aware of the challenges and opportunities for building this nation, but by their actions hinder (consciously, or unconsciously), the process of attaining a national consensus with regard to values, and purposes.
President Donald Ramotar may be forgiven when he made the announcement that scholarships tenable at overseas universities will be awarded to the top performers at the 2013 CSEC and CAPE examinations. But, after reading the more recent press releases by the Minister of Education, Ms Priya Manickchand, in which the Minister reiterated that these scholarships would be tenable at overseas universities, I would place the Minister who has political oversight, and most probably dictates policy at the most strategic ministry of the entire nation-building process, as straddling groups 2 and 3. Understanding the relationship between nation-building and national development is not optional for our national leaders and senior functionaries. It is an imperative.
Apart from being an official, and public put-down of our only national university, given our nation-building context, to award scholarships tenable at overseas universities solely on the single criterion of being the top performing students at CSEC or CAPE is highly inappropriate, and is a clear indication that insufficient thought is being given to the purposes of education in the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Indeed, the entire episode smacks of expediency.
Guyana desperately needs all the brilliant minds she has produced. As a consequence, national needs should have precedence when the foreign exchange earned by the workers of this country will be used to fund the further studies of individuals who may never return so that Guyana might benefit from their newly acquired expertise. The experience has been that at this impressionable age, students are easily overwhelmed by attractions in overseas metropolitan areas, and many be reluctant to return. It is precisely for this very reason that Queen’s College was established in 1844. The sons of the plantation owners were reluctant to return to the plantations (in British Guiana), after their studies in the United Kingdom.
Further, many top performers may have been bookworms, oblivious to the events and culture around them. Many just attend school and never participate in any school activity of significance, much more made any contribution to their respective communities. Students should now be given the opportunity to explore, experience and study Guyanese reality in greater depth.
The award of scholarships is a good thing. Many more scholarships can and should be awarded to deserving students, but they should in the first instance be tenable at the University of Guyana. In this way students would acquire a much deeper understanding of Guyanese culture, and be able to make more critical appraisals of the underlying and interacting issues. This inevitably would lead to greater questioning of the status quo that could result in the emergence of various forms of leadership, meaningful civic actions and social developments.
It would be good for the university’s student body and faculty to have brilliant students with whom to interact. Also, students themselves after being exposed to broader general/liberal undergraduate programmes than at high school would be in a position to better decide the areas in which they would wish to pursue further studies. If these students maintain good all-round undergraduate performances, then under certain conditions, they may be awarded scholarships tenable at overseas universities for postgraduate studies.
Further still, a nation is made up of numerous communities.
In the same way a chain is as strong as its weakest link, it would be impossible to have a modern and developed nation if some communities remain in a primitive condition, underserved, and underdeveloped. Schools play a vital role in the development of their communities as their students interact with other community members, and perform various forms of community service and volunteerism at school, and in the wider community. Attitudes that demonstrate caring, willingness to cooperate, unselfishness, and civic mindedness need to be encouraged, given due recognition, and be rewarded. Volunteerism and community service that contribute to school and community development in our Cooperative Republic are important criteria that must be considered in the award scholarships.
In the building of this nation, education must not only serve the needs of individuals, but the needs of society as well. There are other criteria in addition to academic excellence that need to be considered when making scholarship awards. At the end of the education process it is the character of future Guyanese citizens that is most important.
Yours faithfully,
Clarence O Perry
