The Oxford dictionary gives the definition of apartheid as “a policy or system of segregation or discrimination on grounds of race (and) segregation on grounds other than race.” I believe that this accords well with our everyday understanding of the concept and also indicates why policies of social segregation are normally frowned upon.
Therefore, when the leader of the opposition, Mr David Granger, citing the results of a national examination, is reported as claiming that “education apartheid” is returning to Guyana, the statement is worthy of consideration. This would be so for any country but more so for ours, where the political system does not operate in a manner that would punish those who, consciously or unconsciously, allow the proliferation of such negative policies.
Of course, it is insufficient for Mr David Granger to baldly make the observation, call for an investigation and leave it to others to attempt to decipher what he meant. At the very least, he needed to make a preliminary case by stating more precisely what the segregation is and where and how it is taking place. Since it does not appear that this