Dear Editor,
GHK Lall (SN of Dec 7, 2020) evidently has sufficient experience of human nature to be able to pronounce so categorically negatively on the quality of Guyanese. I think he means available Guyanese, because the reputation of many jobs is what allows the quality of Guyanese to whom he is referring, to gravitate and be comfortable there. I think I know what caused this situation, but the more urgent concern is what we are doing about it.
I spent many years teaching and the very vast majority of the few thousand students I encountered were not of the quality Mr Lall is describing, because he is either seeing them at a later stage or have experience of others. I am old enough to have now encountered many of my own students at later stages of life, and the vast (not very vast) majority of them are still of good quality. I offer 3 explanations:
A. I taught at institutions considered very reputable, and so students came with upbringing and expectations, whether theirs or their parents’.
B. Those who imagined they did not meet my standards did not want to face me later in life.
C. For those who fell through the cracks in the educational system, with little upbringing and less expectation, I had a less systematic mission in voluntary work as a Christian.
Categories B and C are what GHKL may be encountering, because most of category A would have migrated to enrich the human resources of countries like Canada.
Only a small minority of C felt they were able to face me years later. One who essayed a friendly hail from the street corner was quickly silenced by the presence of the gang he was with when I turned to engage him. Another, whom I tried to assist while he was between the ages of 5 and 13, I read in the newspapers committed suicide as a transwoman at the age of 22. Others aspired to be customs officers, traffic police, and minibus drivers. They would get together innocently and discuss plans for their future, based on experiences with such folks. And yes, I actually heard such conversations. They were doing the best that was available to them, and what we call morality was too expensive.
Please formulate your own conclusions and consequences from these observations. I shall have to write later about the sparks of hope I also saw.
Yours faithfully,
Alfred Bhulai
