This year’s CSEC results continue to grab the headlines and remain a hot topic of discussion across Caricom. Last Thursday at the opening of the Yarrowkabra Secondary School on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, President Irfaan Ali announced that the issue of the poor CSEC Mathematics results had captured the attention of “every single head of state and Prime Minister in the region” and it is now on the agenda of the next Caricom Heads of Government Conference. (This pronouncement was addressed by this column on Sunday, ‘Digitization and teachers’.)
In the Sunday’s edition of this publication, in the Letter to the Editor column under the caption “Mastery of Maths, English key to development” is a missive, once again examining this year’s CSEC results. The letter was signed by DeLisle Worrell, who didn’t declare his standing, but one gathers, based upon the references and inferences in the communique, that the writer is the former governor of the Central Bank of Barbados (2009 – 2017). Dr Worrell, a macroeconomist by training, has worked with the International Monetary Fund (1998 – 2008), and has held research fellowships at several prominent tertiary institutions. Today, Dr Worrell practices as an independent international economic consultant.
Dr Worrell commenced his discourse by quoting the words of Dr Wayne Wesley, Chief Execu-tive Officer of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), as reported in the Barbados Nation newspaper of 21st August, “The lack of proficiency in [Mathematics and English] is not just an economic issue but one that could have long-term socioeconomic consequences.” Dr Wesley, who, at that time, was delivering the CSEC results, noted that English and Mathematics (just over 50 percent of students had received a passing grade in both subjects) were fundamental to functioning in today’s world, “the foundation on which anything else can be acquired or learned or achieved.”
In his analysis of the current educational crisis, Dr Worrell draws attention to the fact that the problem is much larger than is reflected in the CSEC results, when one takes into consideration those who dropped out of secondary school, and those who did not sit the two exams. The economist noted that in the same Nation article readers were reminded of “the poor results in these core subjects of Barbadian primary school students who took the Barbados Secondary Schools Entrance Exam, an assessment of their proficiency at the start of their secondary school experience. More than likely, this disturbing state of affairs might have an uncanny parallel state of existence here in Guyana.
The Barbadian economist then presents the case of the importance of these fundamental building blocks as it relates to the resource limited region, and the crucial role of improved labour productivity in maintaining and improving the international competitiveness of Caribbean exports, tourism, and other foreign currency earning activities. In acknowledging that, “Maths and English are not the be all and end all, but they are the essential pillars on which our system of knowledge is built,” Dr Worrell observed that the effort to ensure that all graduates of primary and secondary schools were competent in both subjects must begin with sound strategies.
While Dr Worrell’s analysis reinforces the importance of a sound grounding in the two fields he does not offer any solutions to the current nadir – one can conclude the economist is giving away to the educational experts here. As iterated before in previous columns this state of affairs is not an overnight phenomenon, and there is no instant fix waiting to be tapped. As a population (Guyana, ie not possible to speak for the rest of the region here), we tend to cast the blame rightfully, or wrongfully, on a standard group of factors; the continuing migration of qualified teachers, successive governments’ mishandling of the teaching profession, lack of funds in the school system, and effective leadership within the education system.
With regard to English, our native tongue, parents have to take a long hard look in the mirror. For far too long, we have been passing the buck to the teachers and the schools for our children’s shortcomings in this area. One of the setbacks of broadcast television, which commenced here in May 1980 (admittedly, for the elite society initially) and became a staple part of the general population by the late 1980s and the early 1990s, was the lack of appreciation for the importance of reading. The pull of the ‘idiot box’ has, and probably always will outweigh the option of a good book. The students who currently have great difficulty mastering the written word, are the offspring of a generation weaned on television, and unfortunately, for the most part, never evolved as readers.
In delving into this sociocultural development, among the pertinent questions for those parents (children emulate their parents for the most part) was whether they read bedtime stories to their children when they were between the ages of two to five? (Or did they just park them on the sofa where they fell asleep in front of the television?) How often, if at all, did they witness their parents reading newspapers, magazines, or a book? How many took their children to the National Library, which, today, more often than not resembles a ghost town? Or gave them books as graduation, birthday or Christmas presents? Or did they choose to ply them with Xboxes, Playstations and iPhones? Did they introduce children to the joys and benefits of reading for education, entertainment and escape.
The late Jamaican writer Andrew Salkey, in “Georgetown Journal” (a fascinating read), a travel book encompassing the Caribbean Writers and Artists Convention held in Guyana in February, 1970, drew attention to the number of bookstores in Georgetown and wondered how such a small population could support so many entities. The extended list included Graphic, Argosy, Midget, Michael Forde, the book sections of Bookers and William Fogarty’s Ltd department stores, Cosmopolitan, and the SPCK. Back then, as a television deprived society, Guyanese were voracious readers. Today, there is a spattering of stores with a solitary outstanding well-stocked shop.
If we are going to reverse this trend of the declining standards of the two pillars we will need to return to the important pastime of reading. Every-one has a role to play, but it is up to the parents to lead by example.
