We can transform ourselves into a successful nation but we have to start now

A country’s success does not depend on its natural resources, otherwise since Independence the people of Guyana would have been rich from Guyana’s gold, diamonds, bauxite, agriculture, forests, fish, etc. Instead we are society with a ‘bullyism’ culture, in which a few are super rich, most are struggling and some are eating out of garbage bins and sleeping on the street. We are in this despicable position because for decades the decision makers have made bad decisions.

A country’s success depends upon brain power – the ability to make the right decisions in an unstable and ever changing world. Brain power requires well educated people. Having well-educated people depends on having good teachers. A good teacher can enable a child to blossom, to believe in their self-worth, to emancipate their minds from mental slavery (as the great Bob urged us), to dream of beauty and harmony and to join those who, like our brilliant poet Martin Carter, “do not sleep to dream but dream to change the world.” But to get good teachers you have to respect them, pay them properly and provide opportunities for on-going training and development.

Article 27 of the Constitution says that every citizen has the right to free education from nursery to university or at informal places, and that it is the duty of the State to provide education that prepares students to deal with social issues and meet the challenges of the modern technological age. Every single child in Guyana has a right to an excellent education. Governments have consistently failed to provide it.

You don’t need to be educated to be a Member of Parliament or a minister or President. You only need to be able to read English with “sufficient proficiency” so you can participate in the National Assembly. MPs can sit there, screeching incivilities at one another, voting for legislation that some of them do not understand (if they did they wouldn’t pass it), and drawing their generous salaries (and later pensions) paid for by citizens. Most people will be familiar with the old saying: if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. We have tried ignorance. We cannot afford it any longer. I have three modest proposals:

(1) Pay teachers the same as MPs, ministers or the president depending on a teacher’s qualifications and responsibility. That might mean increasing teachers’ salaries astronomically, or reducing political salaries drastically, or something in between. But it is certainly doable and would rebalance our value system in favour of Guyana’s children.

(2) Require the president, ministers and MPs to send their children to government schools not private schools. Then sit back and see how fast government schools would improve.

(3) Test all future MPs and presidents so we can see if they are up to the job. The test must include critical thinking, social skills, the Constitution, the rule of law, Guyana’s history, the works of Guyana’s brilliant Dr. Walter Rodney, basic science including major threats to life on earth (e.g. oil and gas), the ability to read a balance sheet and balance a budget, and some acquaintance with the works of our wonderful writers and artists.

In one generation we can transform ourselves into a successful nation, but we have to start now.