Dear Editor,
Back in January 2023, a whopping sum of $94.4 billion was budgeted to improve access as well as to enhance the quality of education for Guyanese this year. The word from the Minister of Finance, Dr Ashni Singh, was “Our Government is committed to fulfilling our Manifesto promise of increasing access to education for all, across all levels, delivered at world class standards, and increasing the quality of Guyana’s human capital to be competitive in the region and the world.” So, it is quite refreshing to learn that some 1,215 tablets were given to Toshaos, to access various Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) programmes. Making it even better, some 100 villages received $1M each to develop community grounds. Let me emphasize that it is through education, that we achieve awareness, and cultural understanding and competency. Also, via education, organizations are better equipped to address and dismantle systemic barriers that exist for Indigenous peoples. So, I cannot help but commend our Government for taking education to the first peoples of our country.
I remind Guyanese that Indigenous peoples account for about 700M people, living across over 90 countries. And although they represent only five percent of the world’s population, Indigenous peoples constitute about 15 per cent of the world’s poor. Staggering indeed! So, what do we have confronting us? Huge and many inequalities. In many countries, Indigenous peoples en-counter more barriers to the completion of primary school and are less likely to obtain a diploma, certificate or degree than the non-Indigenous are. If my prediction is on track, soon educational biases and gaps will be far removed from Guyana. I guess in time, progression to higher levels of education will become quite easy for just about everyone, since the GOAL facilitates all regions with equal ease. That is why, with the tablets, bridging the digital divide by building out the Information Technology (IT) infrastructure within the hinterland community is a great move.
This will ensure, if all goes well, that persons will have access to all facilities by the last quarter of 2024. This seems quite achievable too, as the goal of President Irfaan Ali, is that persons from the hinterland maximise on the training provided and therefore, ultimately, they will be able to participate meaningfully in the transformation of the country, a transformation that is very obvious and quite rapid. Let me close off by pointing out to those who are bent on being negative and critical that the PPP/C Government’s holistic agenda is on the move. It is all about improving the lives of the country’s hinterland population. This means maintaining and adding to investments in the areas of “… transport infrastructure such as roads and bridges, investments to fulfil the hinterland electrification (including the purchase of 30,000 standalone household solar units), and investments to increase access to hinterland water wells and water supply systems.” The road to equity and parity may be long and uphill, but it has started, and I foresee its completion.
Sincerely,
HB Singh`
