Nah knowin' fuh read and write - 2016 illiteracy in Guyana

We were sharing suicide prevention leaflets and decided to ask people if they read and write/know to read and write before giving the leaflet. 


We were in Berbice, not far from Cheddi Jagan's birthplace. None of us doing the asking expected the high rates of 'no.. me nah know fuh read/write, or 'only lil bit' ' .  I would say about 50% of the persons said yes, comfortably. The oldest person amongst us was shocked. She herself had come from a poor rural background and she could not believe that there were people younger than her who did not know to read and write.

The people who cannot read and write are all ages - including people born within the last 50 years.  The demographics seemed the same for those who could read and write.

We have had free primary education in Guyana for over 30 years. 


Some persons were able to make a living. The challenge though is that the world expects people to read about health, about well being.

There are thousands of people in Guyana who have not been able to learn to read and write . There are different reasons. Poverty is an excuse, though I do not know if it is logical to assume that many poor people do know to read and write, that it should be possible for others to learn.

The experts will decide on that. There might be individual reasons why people cannot read or write. There are probably systemic issues. There are probably people who have no interest, or who are too busy or tired or exhausted to learn to read and write.

There are some people who try to do literacy, remedial literacy. Some programmes work. An employer I know told me he cried when the first batch of graduates from his workplace literacy graduated.   Other work places probably invest. There should be some national incentive, to encourage and pay people to teach others.

There are other programmes which might not be accessible.

If our functional literacy rate is not going to be 100%, how are we going to develop?

There are no incentives for people to learn to read and write. Some of the literacy advocates complain about the low turn out of men especially.  With more advertisements encouraging men to drink liquor than to be able to read and write, that would be no surprise.

Praises to all those who are learning to read and write long after they should have. Praises to those who provide the programmes, with difficulties.

We have to be serious though, as a nation, if we do not invest in 100% literacy.  

There are some who probably want people to not read and write since it maintains the power structures.