Stabroek News

There should be a reconcilia­tion between President and Jordan on divergent approaches to education

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Dear Editor, One cannot help being moved by Swami Aksharanan­da’s incisive letter in the media (SN, March 29) in which he exposed the apparent contradict­ion between President Granger’s praise for the education provided by private schools and the harsh taxation policy being pursued by the Minister of Finance “as he sought to justify the 14% tax on students” while pronouncin­g on “the sins of private schools”.

I am at a loss to fathom such denigratio­n; how can Guyanese reconcile this with the fact that were it not for the valiant efforts made by the numerous “pioneers of private secondary education” in colonial British Guiana, the army of profession­als who laid the foundation for an independen­t, functional Guyana would not have been around (think of, for example, R E Cheeks, J C Luck, R Ishmael in Georgetown or J C Chandising­h, Rudra Nath, A A Ramlochand in Berbice); and while we are in this context, I cannot help thinking, with all humility, of my own involvemen­t as the first Principal of Hindu College initiated by another Swami, viz Swami Purnanda Ji). Of course none of this would have been possible if the parents, many of whom were virtually destitute, were not themselves convinced that education was the most powerful vehicle in their journey to socio-economic and personal developmen­t.

Today’s parents are no different from long ago; they also have to gird their loins, make many sacrifices and difficult choices in favour of private education because they are disillusio­ned with the offerings of free public education; they have learnt not to look a gift horse in the mouth and are prepared to go the extra mile in pursuit of the best available education for their children. This is not to knock our public school system or teachers, but the realities are obvious to the parents who, realizing that there is no second chance for their children, are prepared to go the extra mile. It is therefore most dishearten­ing for them to now have to tighten their belts and go even further by having to pay an education tax.

I support the call from our revered Swami Aksharanan­da Ji for an immediate reconcilia­tion between the apparently divergent approaches taken by our President and Minister of Finance. Yours faithfully, Nowrang Persaud

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