Dear Editor,
The underdevelopment of school-age children continues under a PPP/C government that appears indifferent to the challenges confronting students and their families.
On Monday, students of the Wismar Multilateral School, one of Region Ten’s major educational institutions, were sent home because of a power outage in Wismar. This disruption raises serious concerns about the government’s commitment to ensuring that children have uninterrupted access to education.
Many of these students return to homes where their parents or guardians are absent because they are at work. Sending children home unexpectedly therefore creates concerns about supervision, safety and the arrangements families must make at short notice.
The consequences extend beyond the immediate disruption of classes. Teaching time is lost, lessons are interrupted, and students’ ability to complete homework and study effectively is compromised when electricity supply remains unreliable. These setbacks place an additional burden on children who depend on their schools to provide a stable learning environment.
The Minister of Education must address this recurring threat to learning. Political speeches and grandstanding cannot substitute for practical solutions to the problems affecting our schools. Students in Region Ten deserve the same standard of educational support and infrastructure as children elsewhere in Guyana.
Education must not be held hostage by persistent blackouts, inadequate planning or administrative failure. The government must work with the relevant authorities to establish reliable electricity arrangements for schools and ensure that contingency plans are in place when outages occur.
Our children represent Guyana’s future. They should not be made to bear the cost of failures beyond their control. The time has come for decisive action and accountable leadership from the Ministry of Education to protect instructional time and safeguard students’ right to learn.
Yours truly,
Derrick Osborne
