Education is your wings out of poverty - President - arrives to warm welcome in home community

Written by Gina Webmasters, Published in News, Georgetown, GINA, May 3, 2015, Source

The President told the small community along the Essequibo River that education is key to eliminating poverty, and it is the tool government is using to raise the quality of life of hinterland and riverain residents, but parents must be prepared to allow their children to pursue educational opportunities even if it’s away from home for their personal and community development. 

Children of Caria Caria lined up to welcome President Donald Ramotar to his home town

"You can’t love your children and hold them back. You have to love your children and let them go. You have to give your children two things in life: values so that they know right from wrong, that they may know honesty is the best policy, so that they understand there is no short cut to hard work. Give them those values so they know who they are and love who they are,  and you have to give them wings. You have to allow them to fly and those wings is education. Even though it is difficult to send them to secondary schools far away from you, your love would be damaging to them if you hold them back ... I realise today that it must have been very difficult for my mother, for us to go to school in Georgetown, but I feel if she did not do that and make that sacrifice, I would not have had that opportunity to be your President today.”

President Donald Ramotar with residents of Caria Caria, his home town

He noted that when the PPP/C Government assumed office in 1992, it recognised that there were high levels of poverty in the hinterland and riverain communities largely because people there lacked opportunities, and if given a chance the students could have excelled academically. Hence, the Government, realising it could not build additional secondary schools right away, sought to create opportunities by bringing many children from those communities to a dormitory school in Region Four and the only such school was President's College. However, this was rebuffed by the political opposition, as “they were actually saying that people in the interior are inferior to those on the coastland. But, we never believed that…what was lacking were opportunities, and we persevered and kept the students at President’s College and recently an Amerindian student from the North West topped President’s College at CSEC. No one is superior to you, and that is why we are trying to give equal opportunities to you.”

Government has since built and renovated more than a thousand schools, but there are still communities without secondary schools because their population is small. He urged parents to make the necessary sacrifice to ensure their children get a secondary education. “I am working very very hard for universal secondary education to ensure every child completes secondary school and have a sound education…we are very very close to achieving this now. When we came into office there wasn’t enough space in primary schools for every child, we have fixed that and only 30 out of every 100 primary school children attended secondary school, now it's more than 90.”

President Donald Ramotar, a son of Caria Caria addressing residents

He said that much of his education was self-taught while growing up in Caria Caria, and urged parents to ensure that their children read and have a strong education.

He noted that, “We are trying our best in many ways to ease the pressure on you,” and added that Government is also providing free text and exercise books, cash grants, uniforms, meals and accommodation for public school students.

Recalling his days growing up in Caria Caria, the President said that many of his promising classmates were denied the opportunity to excel academically, “and that is constantly in my mind, as I work every day to try to give everyone an opportunity because if you look around the world you will see that the countries that came out of poverty and developed are the countries with the skilled people.”

Residents of Caria Caria at the meeting to hear from President Donald Ramotar

He said Japan is a glaring example of this, adding that Japan has no natural resources, and yet it’s the third largest economy in the world, heavily focused on manufacturing “because they have a highly educated workforce and that is what I want to do in our country.

The President said significant investment in social services has been made by his government as it’s from these that people benefit the most. He pointed out that there has been sizeable investments in health, with new and improved services being offered centrally and to the small communities, many of which now have doctors, something that was seriously lacking in the past. The President said that the specialty hospital will also offer more services to people right in Guyana.  

Government, through its housing programme has been assisting some hinterland residents to build homes and this will extend to Caria Caria. He also told the community that solar panels will be provided shortly for them to assist with the provision of electricity in the area.

“If the opposition was a little bit co-operative or if we had the majority in Parliament, our country and even Caria Caria would have developed much faster,” he said. Instead the opposition used its one-seat majority in the National Assembly to impose several cuts to the National Budget.

He noted that Government is also trying to eradicate poverty by boosting economic activities in far flung areas and stimulate their village economies. “We want to change them from being just subsistence farmers to be more commercial farmers…in some cases we give tractors, boats and engines and build roads to help people and that is one of the things they cut from the budget...Another thing they cut is the loanwe give to students of poor families to attend university…These are the same people who now come around saying they love young people, and Amerindian people, and we had to put it back in the budget and when we did, they went with the no confidence motion.”

The hydroelectric project was also opposed, robbing Guyanese of the chance to have cheaper electricity and further development from the money Government would have saved from subsidies that it currently gives to the power company to keep electricity rates stable.

Nevertheless, the government is confident these projects will materialise once it returns to office.  

The President also told residents of other national initiatives that government has embarked upon to create more wealth and generate jobs, including exploring the potential of tourism, making Guyana an industrial and manufacturing economy, and exploring the cultivation of alternative agricultural products. Noting that Caria Caria is largely dependent on timber for revenue, the president said government will support them to explore other income sources, such as bamboo harvesting to make flooring.

He told them many of these things could not have been done earlier because of the challenges in the political situation for the last three years, as “we have an opposition that is very determined to try to stop development from taking place.”

Speaking of what obtained prior to the PPPC's advent to office in 1992, “There was total neglect throughout our country. These people (People's National Congress) bankrupt our country….repaying the debt was more than the country was earning. We had reached a stage in Guyana when we were borrowing to repay debt. From 925 percent of our economy, debt is now 60 percent. We now have one of the best debt profiles in the Caribbean,” he said, adding that Guyana’s economic status has moved from a heavily indebted poor country to a middle income developing country.

“We have the potential to do more, produce more things, earn more money,” he said. That is why cheaper electricity and a modern infrastructure is critical to “ensure our country enjoy a higher standardof living."

He said, "I urge you to think about how far we have come and the possibilities that are now opening up to you. Think about the opportunities you have that the people of my generation did not have. ..Just one week away to vote, I urge you to think about the future, the future of the country, the future of your children. Think about the cup. It has been one of your most faithful utensils… and like the cup the PPP has been as loyal to you as the cup. We’ve always been with you through good times and bad times… the last three years were very difficult years. They were not easy years at all. There were years of anxiety with the threat over your head all the time about closing the Parliament down and now you have the opportunity to ensure that doesn’t happen again.”

Speaking at the meeting, Region Three Chairman Julius Faerber noted that Caria Caria has transformed under this administration and there are efforts to take it further.

Chairman of the CDC, Tyrone John, its Secretary Everly Sampson and a Community Health Worker from Fort Island, Zalifa Debideen, all acknowledged the progress in the riverain community, as residents from Fort Island, Bonasika and Morashee were present as well.