Dear Editor,
An optimist is someone who sees the glass as being half full rather than half empty. I consider myself as one of those who sees the glass as half full. We are too rich in resources, both human and natural to be poor. More substantially, we have a literate and numerate population, thanks to significant investments in education by the previous administration, one that has been continued by the new APNU+AFC government.
As I read about the large number of students who graduated recently from the University of Guyana I felt a renewed sense of optimism that the future of this country is assured. There is a saying that one cannot be educated and poor at the same time.
This is why investment in education is so critical for national development as the experience of countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea and others has demonstrated.
We need to invest more in human resource training and development.
The development of human capital is a sine qua non for social and economic development. Our teachers need to be better paid and more resources should be put in measurement and evaluation not only of students but teachers as well.
There is an African saying that no nation can advance beyond the level of its teachers.
Let us pay our teachers more and as I am on it, our nurses as well. For too long these two categories of workers have been underpaid having regard to the socially beneficial nature of their contribution to society.
Regardless of what some critics may wish to say, we have made significant progress over the past years.
We are no longer considered a poor underdeveloped country by the international donor community, which means that grants and other concessional funds are harder to come by.
The good thing is that given our strong resource base and our potential for continued growth and development, there is every reason for optimism. The challenge facing this current administration is to find ways of accelerating our growth momentum in a sustained way.
Yours faithfully,
Hydar Ally
