Dear Editor,
The development of our country is totally dependent on the capabilities of our human resources which must be groomed from the cradle through to university.
Our young mothers must understand the importance of breastfeeding children; this contributes significantly to the psychological, emotional and physiological development of the individual. A mother who breastfeeds a child teaches that child love from being caressed and allowed to suckle while she sings a lullaby.
Single parents must find the moments to talk with their children so that they can share their experiences, hence fostering a healthy communication process between parent and child. From conception children begin to be affected by the socialization process which ultimately charts their future, making it necessary that we keep mothers happy and protected during and after pregnancy as this influences the cognitive development of the child.
In Guyana today the education system must be addressed technologically, socially, culturally, economically and spiritually. The incidence of truancy is alarmingly high as can be seen with the many children roaming the streets day and night. Given this situation, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Public Security and the Ministry of Social Protection must work together to bring an end to truancy. Parents must be prosecuted when their children are found roaming the streets aimlessly during school hours. The schools must be made child friendly; physical education teachers and coaches must be assigned to work with schools right across the country; and schools must be supported with sports equipment to cover areas of sport that are of interest to the school population.
The National Schools Athletics Championship may soon be an event of the past if not addressed with fervour by this new administration, since athletics and sport in general were dealt serious blows due to the former administration’s inability to manage the sports and cultural development of our primary and secondary schools. The private sector seems to be very stingy when being asked to make available rewards for the sterling performances of sportsmen and women at the many schools competitions which include inter-house sports, inter-school sport and national championships.
The government must be prepared to spend adequate sums to promote this once per year athletic championship; these are our major children’s games and must be treated as such, and we must show our children that we care. We spend large sums of money on all kinds of things, but neglect our duty to ensure stars are born once again out of Guyana as in those golden years of James Wren Gilkes, June Griffith, Harry Powell, Lance Gibbs, Rohan Khanhai, Alvin Kallicharan, Basil Butcher, Joe Solomon, Roy Federicks, Carl Hooper, Clive Lloyd, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Colin Croft, Kenny Bristol, Winfield Braithwaite, Lennox Blackmore and many more.
The development of sport will seriously begin to happen when every school has access to a playfield and gymnasium that are managed by a well-oriented staff. Our children need opportunities to excel; our security is assured not only with the arming of battalions of the joint services but by arming our children with knowledge, skills and humility in behaviour through honest, patriotic leadership coming from the guardians of the state or ruling government and parents.
Governments and the private sector companies of developed countries spend huge sums on the development of children, since they recognize that they are the leaders of tomorrow and the engine of growth in their societies. Sports equipment should not attract VAT, and schools and clubs must be allowed to import sports equipment as is done with agriculture and mining equipment and machinery.
At the University of Guyana our leaders go through their final stages before entering the field of work. Many leave the university without an appreciation or recognition of the importance of sports and culture in relation to the development of communities, because the University of Guyana has failed to set standards that can be emulated by colleges and schools.
The hundreds of churches around the country that on a weekly basis receive large sums of tithes and offerings from the people of the many communities, must begin to support these children with sports equipment and musical instruments, music teachers and coaches/or the material and spiritual development must work together for the Good Life.
Yours faithfully,
Ras Aaron Blackman
