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Even in modern-day Guyana, inequitable access to education is preventing hundreds of youths within communities along the Berbice River from reaching their true potential.
After all, take a clean slate, write down education as the goal, but add a remote location; no government-sponsored utilities such as electricity; no efficient internet connectivity; limited job opportunities and therefore limited finances, and one could easily see the hurdles towards equal access to education.
Dogged by these challenges and more is the community of DeVeldt/De Velde, located a two-hour speed boat drive up the Berbice River from New Amsterdam. Though the community is often featured in the news for its major marijuana busts by the police, Community Development Council (CDC) Chairman, Laxley Lindie is urging that youths in the riverine area be given what they deserve: ease of access to education.
THE YOUNGEST AT RISK
Turning his attention first to the DeVeldt nursery and primary schools, housed in the same compound, the Chairman said that the wharf where boats must stop to let off the children is dilapidated and structurally unsound. There is a fear amongst residents that if schools were to be reopened by the Ministry of Education and emergency works are not conducted, children who attend via boat will be exposed to grave danger. “We tried to patch it but, right now, if school is going to open back, you can’t accommodate the children there,” he said. “We have people here who can fix it but it’s the finance. This thing has been prolonging for a long time but every time you talk to them [the Education Ministry] about it they say ‘it’s in process’ but it isn’t coming to nothing.”
The CDC Chair also spoke of the poor condition of the school, noting that the roof needs a “complete change”. There is also need for an extension of the building as just over 50 students attend the schools which experience congestion- a reality even more unfavourable considering the COVID-19 pandemic.
In poor condition too is the schools’ boat and engine, the latter was provided by the Government since 2013 and has undergone repairs several times. Lindie has first-hand knowledge of these challenges as apart from this duty as Chair, he is the captain of the boat.
He doesn’t know whether community members can afford to pay to construct a new boat for the next term or whether the engine will hold up. “Parents sponsor the gas and many times, when my salary comes, I have to take more than half to pay for gas,” he said. For a term it comes up to about 84 gallons of gas to transport the children.
HIGH LEVEL OF DROPOUTS
Go up a higher level to secondary school-aged students and Lindie said that there are bigger problems. He said that under the previous People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Administration it was decided that after writing Common Entrance – now known as the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) – students hailing from the Berbice River must attend a secondary school out of their communities.
There are 17 public secondary schools in Region Six but none along the stretch of the Berbice River. A previous arrangement saw the secondary school-aged children remaining at their primary schools until Third Form. However, the doing away with this, Lindie said, has since contributed to a high number of school drop-outs.
The CDC Chair further explained that most parents are not financially equipped to support education and lodging for their children in New Amsterdam, Linden or Georgetown.
As a result, there is a high number of school drop-outs in the community. Lindie said there seems to be no difference in the dropout rates among males and females and the ages start from as young as 11 years old. “Remember these children grew up in the river. Some of them can cope with [moving to the city or town] but it’s hard, based on how the children grew up. It’s hard for those kids from like 11 or 12 years to part with their families. Even if they have an aunty or a grandmother or somebody out there, it’s a totally different lifestyle they have to end up with and it’s hard for them,” he explained.
Another resident listening in to the interview agreed that, for most parents, while they wish to expose their children to the best learning opportunities which lie in towns like New Amsterdam, the big issue is finding a safe place for their children to stay.
WE ARE NO DIFFERENT
Some years ago, there was a spark of effort amongst community members to construct a private secondary school in DeVeldt which would also serve as an alternative to neighbouring communities. However, the task proved too big for the residents. “We made a great start and we had a problem with the area to build and that was it, the plan just flattened,” Lindie said.
Until a school can come to the community, in his own dealings with the past and present government, the CDC Chair continues to lobby for the education arrangement to return to allowing secondary school-aged students to remain at their primary schools until Third Form. By that age, he believes that the children are much more mature to handle life away from their families in the large towns.
Lindie accentuated that there is nothing wrong, learning-wise, with the children of DeVeldt save for their unequal access to education and other opportunities.
He pointed out that the community has produced the likes of well-known Family Court Judge, Sandra Kurtzious and that children in the community have written the NGSA Exams obtaining marks high enough to attend President’s College. When the coronavirus came, the majority of children studying afar had to return to their homes along the Berbice River. Now, they are back to their age-old challenge of inequity as it regards the e-learning implemented by the Ministry of Education.
Lindie said: “Even though they are trying with this online teaching, the children in this area they don’t get it.” The resident listening in agreed with the sentiments shared, noting that the workbooks and other learning materials promised by the former Government, in light of the closure of schools, have not surfaced in the riverine community.
“I had to buy the book for my child who is in Grade One and it was over $4,000 for the book and it’s supposed to be free,” she complained. Even as the community hopes that greater action will be taken to address its education issues, Lindie recommends that a community center be set up. He suggested: “What I think we really need right now is a community center because we have a lot of youths who are school dropouts and there’s nothing here we can do with them. But if we have a community center, there’s a lot that we can assist them with.” Indeed, a community center could provide skills training, holistic wellness programmes and encouragement to youths to adopt positive lifestyle-related behaviors and practices.
