Coil: Lost children of Guyana?
By Vidyaratha Kissoon
Briana, not her real name, believes that ‘CXC is not for her”.
Briana, not her real name, talks about not being picked to write CXC while in the care of the Government of Guyana.
““I go to school up to form 4 (Grade 10)… then I went to Sophia (Training School) and I do cosmetology… I ent write CXC… well everybody don’t write CXC at that school, the teachers them does pick who gon write and who not gon write when you reach Form 4 (Grade 10) and they didn’t pick me… I ent really feel no way that them ent pic me … mostly children from the children home don’t write CXC. Remember now CXC is not for everybody… we does , mostly go to high school up to a point and then go to Sophia Training School and learn a trade”.”
This story is in the report, An Analysis of the Nature and Extent of Institutionalization of Children in Guyana (May 2016) which was produced by ChildLink and other partners.
The nation learned of the murders of 14 year old Malika Hamilton and 13 year old Devanand Sanichar in the days before the announcement of the CXC results at CSEC and CAPE. The nation was given the news of the high achievers and their dreams and aspirations. The annual announcements are usually good news for many of what might be possible.
This year, there are stories of 12 year old children and 13 year old children writing subjects and passing.
How must the children who have been excluded from CXC feel, watching the celebration of the exams, that ‘is nah fuh dem’?
Thirty years ago, I would have been part of a group of ‘top’ CXC students by the very basic standards of those days. Thankfully, the media does not have a record of my dreams and so. The aspirations certainly did not include being the only one of the group living in Guyana, and writing about students who are not making it CXC and who feel that ‘CXC’ is not for everybody.
According to the figures of Common Entrance and CSEC results since 2008, thousands of Guyanese children did not write the CXC exams when they should have done so.
Between 2008 and 2013, 3,976 children did not make it to the exams.. Between 2009 and 2014, 4,889 children did not make it to the exams. Between 2010 and 2015, 3,745 children did not make it to the exams. Between 2011 and 2016, 4,583 children did not make it to the CXC exams.
A total of 17,193 children who did not make it to the exam form since 2008.
There is another dimension. According to CXC, 55, 130 males wrote the exam while 77, 544 females wrote the exam – a 42:58 ratio. In Guyana, the figures are 4677 males , 8132 females : 37:63 ratio.
So Guyanese boys probably form a high percentage of those who feel that CXC is ‘nah fuh dem’
There has been an interest in the number of students writing and passing record numbers of subjects in the last couple of years. There is anxiety about the need for the high numbers and so and a lot of debate though, as the students have reasons for wanting to pursue scholarships and so.
No one though, has bothered to talk seriously about the thousands of children who are leaving the school system before fifth form.
Guyana’s Constitution has nice things about education :-
Article 27 (1) Every citizen has the right to free education from nursery to university as well as at non-formal places where opportunities are provided for education and training.
(2) It is the duty of the State to provide education that would include curricula designed to reflect the cultural diversities of Guyana and disciplines that are necessary to prepare students to deal with social issues and to meet the challenges of the modern technological age.
Article 38E. Formal education is compulsory up to the age of fifteen years
Article 149H. (1) Every child is entitled to free primary and secondary education in schools owned or funded by the State.
Education in Guyana is not free though in that there are costs for the education for those who have to make it to fifth form.
Briana, not her real name, is one of those children who were not selected for CXC. The Government probably was not able to afford the costs for the mentoring, encouragement, attention, tuition, SBAs for Briana and the others who ‘were not selected’ to make at least the five subjects for CXC.
I met a young man who was in care of the State when he wrote his CXC. He passed the subjects and has very lofty dreams. He seems to be an exception.
There might have been reasons why he felt that CXC was for him.
Before reading the story of Briana, not her real name, I assumed that children in the care of the state would be given the educational support and resources needed to complete fifth form.
There are private schools who have children who make it to fifth form from affiliated homes. The stories though, because of how we stigmatise those who are in institutional care , have to be ‘not in their real names’. According to the ChildLInk report, many children in private institutional care, felt they had better access to education.
Is there something wrong with not having CXC passes?
There is debate about the role of examinations and whether or not examinations determine knowledge and skills. Guyana and the Caribbean though, at this point have decided to use the examinations and to invest in the examinations as a way of understanding the competencies of its young citizens.
The Age of Information and the Knowledge Economy will privilege those who have the ability and knowledge to read and write and access and produce information and knowledge.
President Granger seems determined to ensure every young person has the potential to be a self-employed entrepreneur. We should hope then, with the investment in examinations, that there is a value to having every child acquire the basic subjects which would enable the young people to participate in the economy. Capitalism has all these concepts which privilege those who have advantages of education, and which destroy those who do not have the advantages.
We can pay homage to the children who will pass lots of subjects , especially those who do so early in their teenage years. We can pay homage and be thankful for the families who support the children who are the top earners with the record subjects.
We are a miserable country though, if we are allowing children to believe that ‘CXC’ is nah fuh dem and that the five subjects are out of their reach when others are getting 8,9,10,20 subjects.
In 2016, 14,809 children wrote the Common Entrance. About 13,000 of those children who did not make it to a top school probably already feel failures by the educational system and standards.
With the appropriate allowances for migration and related factors, there is no reason not to expect in Guyana that by 2021, that almost all of the 14,809 children would write and pass at least 5 subjects of CXC.
The public interest should be on the work being done to make sure that all children who are not high flyers or in the top percentiles, have access to the skills, and resources to make it to fifth form and to pass the CXC. Special interest has to be on the children in care of the State.
We cannot continue to assume that an average loss of 25% of our children is an approved collateral damage in our education system.
Briana, not her real name, believes that ‘CXC is not for her”.
Briana, not her real name, talks about not being picked to write CXC while in the care of the Government of Guyana.
““I go to school up to form 4 (Grade 10)… then I went to Sophia (Training School) and I do cosmetology… I ent write CXC… well everybody don’t write CXC at that school, the teachers them does pick who gon write and who not gon write when you reach Form 4 (Grade 10) and they didn’t pick me… I ent really feel no way that them ent pic me … mostly children from the children home don’t write CXC. Remember now CXC is not for everybody… we does , mostly go to high school up to a point and then go to Sophia Training School and learn a trade”.”
This story is in the report, An Analysis of the Nature and Extent of Institutionalization of Children in Guyana (May 2016) which was produced by ChildLink and other partners.
The nation learned of the murders of 14 year old Malika Hamilton and 13 year old Devanand Sanichar in the days before the announcement of the CXC results at CSEC and CAPE. The nation was given the news of the high achievers and their dreams and aspirations. The annual announcements are usually good news for many of what might be possible.
This year, there are stories of 12 year old children and 13 year old children writing subjects and passing.
How must the children who have been excluded from CXC feel, watching the celebration of the exams, that ‘is nah fuh dem’?
Thirty years ago, I would have been part of a group of ‘top’ CXC students by the very basic standards of those days. Thankfully, the media does not have a record of my dreams and so. The aspirations certainly did not include being the only one of the group living in Guyana, and writing about students who are not making it CXC and who feel that ‘CXC’ is not for everybody.
According to the figures of Common Entrance and CSEC results since 2008, thousands of Guyanese children did not write the CXC exams when they should have done so.
Between 2008 and 2013, 3,976 children did not make it to the exams.. Between 2009 and 2014, 4,889 children did not make it to the exams. Between 2010 and 2015, 3,745 children did not make it to the exams. Between 2011 and 2016, 4,583 children did not make it to the CXC exams.
A total of 17,193 children who did not make it to the exam form since 2008.
There is another dimension. According to CXC, 55, 130 males wrote the exam while 77, 544 females wrote the exam – a 42:58 ratio. In Guyana, the figures are 4677 males , 8132 females : 37:63 ratio.
So Guyanese boys probably form a high percentage of those who feel that CXC is ‘nah fuh dem’
There has been an interest in the number of students writing and passing record numbers of subjects in the last couple of years. There is anxiety about the need for the high numbers and so and a lot of debate though, as the students have reasons for wanting to pursue scholarships and so.
No one though, has bothered to talk seriously about the thousands of children who are leaving the school system before fifth form.
Guyana’s Constitution has nice things about education :-
Article 27 (1) Every citizen has the right to free education from nursery to university as well as at non-formal places where opportunities are provided for education and training.
(2) It is the duty of the State to provide education that would include curricula designed to reflect the cultural diversities of Guyana and disciplines that are necessary to prepare students to deal with social issues and to meet the challenges of the modern technological age.
Article 38E. Formal education is compulsory up to the age of fifteen years
Article 149H. (1) Every child is entitled to free primary and secondary education in schools owned or funded by the State.
Education in Guyana is not free though in that there are costs for the education for those who have to make it to fifth form.
Briana, not her real name, is one of those children who were not selected for CXC. The Government probably was not able to afford the costs for the mentoring, encouragement, attention, tuition, SBAs for Briana and the others who ‘were not selected’ to make at least the five subjects for CXC.
I met a young man who was in care of the State when he wrote his CXC. He passed the subjects and has very lofty dreams. He seems to be an exception.
There might have been reasons why he felt that CXC was for him.
Before reading the story of Briana, not her real name, I assumed that children in the care of the state would be given the educational support and resources needed to complete fifth form.
There are private schools who have children who make it to fifth form from affiliated homes. The stories though, because of how we stigmatise those who are in institutional care , have to be ‘not in their real names’. According to the ChildLInk report, many children in private institutional care, felt they had better access to education.
Is there something wrong with not having CXC passes?
There is debate about the role of examinations and whether or not examinations determine knowledge and skills. Guyana and the Caribbean though, at this point have decided to use the examinations and to invest in the examinations as a way of understanding the competencies of its young citizens.
The Age of Information and the Knowledge Economy will privilege those who have the ability and knowledge to read and write and access and produce information and knowledge.
President Granger seems determined to ensure every young person has the potential to be a self-employed entrepreneur. We should hope then, with the investment in examinations, that there is a value to having every child acquire the basic subjects which would enable the young people to participate in the economy. Capitalism has all these concepts which privilege those who have advantages of education, and which destroy those who do not have the advantages.
We can pay homage to the children who will pass lots of subjects , especially those who do so early in their teenage years. We can pay homage and be thankful for the families who support the children who are the top earners with the record subjects.
We are a miserable country though, if we are allowing children to believe that ‘CXC’ is nah fuh dem and that the five subjects are out of their reach when others are getting 8,9,10,20 subjects.
In 2016, 14,809 children wrote the Common Entrance. About 13,000 of those children who did not make it to a top school probably already feel failures by the educational system and standards.
With the appropriate allowances for migration and related factors, there is no reason not to expect in Guyana that by 2021, that almost all of the 14,809 children would write and pass at least 5 subjects of CXC.
The public interest should be on the work being done to make sure that all children who are not high flyers or in the top percentiles, have access to the skills, and resources to make it to fifth form and to pass the CXC. Special interest has to be on the children in care of the State.
We cannot continue to assume that an average loss of 25% of our children is an approved collateral damage in our education system.
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