By Miranda La Rose
When she left school some 30 years ago, Esther Isaacs-Roberts of Karaudarnau Village in South Rupununi had no certificates. What she did possess was a love for reading, and a passion to learn and to pass on her knowledge. Now 45 years old, she is a trained, graduate teacher.
Isaacs-Roberts began her working life as volunteer library assistant, then spent several years as an acting teacher. Once she became a trained primary teacher she went on to secure an education management certificate through a one-year programme facilitated by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD), a bachelor’s degree in education, specialising in literacy from the University of Guyana (UG) and is now pursuing a master’s degree in education management and supervision at UG.
“I grew up in a village with no technology. During my leisure time at Karaudarnau Primary School I read a lot of books. That was how I built my language skills in English. My parents were both Wapichan speakers and English is their second language,” Isaacs-Roberts told Stabroek Weekend.