Guyana

by Paul Bacsich for Re.ViCa. Updated by James Kay of Sero for VISCED

For entities in Guyana see Category:Guyana

Partners situated in Guyana

None.

Guyana in a nutshell

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana)

Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is a state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. It is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America.

Guyana is bordered to the east by Suriname, to the south and southwest by Brazil, to the west by Venezuela, and on the north by the Atlantic Ocean. Historically, the region known as "Guiana" (Land of Many Waters) was comprised of the large shield landmass north of the Amazon River and East of the Orinoco River. Five sub-regions were carved out of the landmass by colonial powers in the late 17th and early 18th century; Spanish Guiana (now eastern Venezuela), Portuguese Guiana (now northern Brazil), English Guiana (Guyana), Dutch Guiana (Suriname) and the present French overseas department of French Guiana.

The population of Guyana is approximately 770,000.

At 215,000 km2, Guyana is the third-smallest independent state on the mainland of South America (after Uruguay and Suriname), and the fourth-smallest political entity (which includes French Guiana).

It is one of the five non-Spanish-speaking territories on the continent, along with the countries of Brazil (Portuguese) and Suriname (Dutch), French Guiana (French) and the British Overseas Territory of the Falkland Islands (English).

Guyana can be divided into four natural regions: a narrow and fertile marshy plain along the Atlantic coast (low coastal plain) where most of the population lives; a white sand belt more inland (hilly sand and clay region), containing most of Guyana's mineral deposits; the dense rain forests (Forested Highland Region) in the middle of the country; the grassy flat savannah in the south; and the larger interior highlands (interior savannah) consisting mostly of mountains that gradually rise to the Brazilian border

Administratively, Guyana is divided into 10 regions. The regions are divided into 27 neighbourhood councils.

There are some minor border disputes with both Suriname and Venezuela (see e.g. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schomburgk_Line) but observers do not feel that they materially affect the economic or political situation within the country.

The main economic activities in Guyana are agriculture (production of rice and Demerara sugar), bauxite mining, gold mining, timber, shrimp fishing and minerals. Chronic problems include a shortage of skilled labour and a deficient infrastructure. In 2008, the economy witnessed a 3% increase in growth amid the global economic crisis and is expected to grow further in 2009.

The population of Guyana is approximately 770,000, of which 90% reside on the narrow coastal strip (approximately 10% of the total land area of Guyana). Guyana's coastal strip ranges from between 10 to 40 miles in width.

The present population of Guyana is racially and ethnically heterogeneous, composed chiefly of the descendants of immigrants who came to the country either as enslaved people or as indentured labourers. The population therefore comprises groups of persons with nationality backgrounds from India, Pakistan, Africa, China, Europe (especially the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Portugal), with several Aboriginal groups as the indigenous population. These groups of diverse nationality backgrounds have been fused together by a common language, i.e., English and Creole.

English is the official language of Guyana and used in its schools. In addition, Guyanese Creole (an English-based creole with African and Indian syntax whose grammar is not standardized) is widely spoken. Cariban languages (Akawaio, Wai-Wai, Arawak and Macushi) are spoken by a small minority.

Schools in Guyana

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana)

The Guyanese education system is modeled after the former UK-derived education system. Students are expected to write SSEE (secondary school entrance exam) by grade 6 for entrance into High School in grade 7. They write CXC at the end of high school. Recently Guyana has introduced the CAPE exams which all other Caribbean countries have introduced.

The A-level system left over from the UK-run era has all but disappeared and is offered only in a few schools.

There are several very good private schools that have appeared over the last 15 years. Those schools offer a varied and balanced curriculum. However, the top government-run schools have nonetheless continued their dominance in academic performance outshining these private schools over the years.

The statutory age for beginning compulsory education is five years nine months, and students are required to attend school until age 16. However, children who do not meet the statutory age to begin school are sometimes enrolled early or generally attend some kind of pre-school.

The academic year usually begins in September and ends in July of the following year and with the exception of President's College students have a five-hour school day.

Outside of the private sector, free education from nursery to university was the norm in Guyana until the mid 1990s. The current provision of education is subsidised from nursery through secondary schools, with students now having to pay for tuition at some tertiary institutions.

Criticisms

Wikipedia notes that:

• Guyana's educational system was at one time considered to be among the best in the Caribbean, but it significantly deteriorated in the 1980s because of the emigration of highly educated citizens and the lack of appropriate funding. Although the education system has recovered somewhat in the 1990s, it still does not produce the quality of educated students necessary for Guyana to modernize its workforce.
• The country lacks a critical mass of expertise in many of the disciplines and activities on which it depends.
• The educational system does not sufficiently focus on the training of Guyanese in science and technology, technical and vocational subjects, business management, nor computer sciences.

These issues are no doubt relevant to the growth of distance education in the country.

Higher education

(sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Guyana)

Universities in Guyana

The University of Guyana is Guyana's only university. This operates on two campuses, Tain (Berbice)and Turkeyen (Demerara). It was established in 1963 after Guyana expressed its preference for a local university given the costs associated with Guyanese students attending the University of the West Indies (UWI) and other universities.

However, students who want to pursue training in fields such as anthropology, astronomy or librarianship must travel abroad or pursue distance studies.

University of Guyana

This provides a professional education in many areas. The University of Guyana like the University of the West Indies is an associate member of CARICOM, it is also a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

There are 7 Faculties and one specialist Faculty

1. Faculty of Arts
2. Faculty of Natural Sciences
3. Faculty of Social Sciences
4. Faculty of Education and Humanities
5. Faculty of Health Sciences
6. Faculty of Technology
7. Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry
8. Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (separate entry)

Its web site is http://www.uog.edu.gy - and see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Guyana

Polytechnics in Guyana

Wikipedia notes only two post-secondary colleges in Guyana (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Colleges_in_Guyana ):

• Cyril Potter College of Education - the only teacher training college; this is located at Turkeyen, with branches in New Amsterdam, Rose Hall, Linden, Vreed-en-Hoop and Anna Regina. Teachers have to travel from rural areas to attend classes. There are three years of coursework, with the candidate choosing to specialize in Nursery, Primary, or Secondary education. There are also concentrations in Information Technology, Languages, Science, Social Studies, and Physical Education

• Guyana School of Agriculture, a post-secondary college of agricultural education in Guyana, established in 1963, offering two-year diploma and certificate course -

Adult and Continuing Education

The Adult Education Association and, the Institute of Adult and Continuing Education (IDCE), the extramural arm of the University of Guyana fulfil this role along with many other private and government post-secondary institutions. At the moment the government of Guyana is administering a National Fast Track Literacy programme which aims to improve the literacy skills of young people and adults who did not complete formal education

Administration and finance

Students who can't afford university tuition fees may take a student loan from the state-run student loans agency.

Information society

Information society strategy

Telecommunications

The telephone system is adequate but somewhat under-developed, with problems typical of such countries including over-reliance on microwave, tropo scatter and satellite links.

Fixed-line teledensity is about 15 per 100 persons; many areas still lack fixed-line telephone services; mobile-cellular teledensity reached 37 per 100 persons in 2005/

Around 170,000 internet users are reported. Broadband services are available for business and residential customers through the ISP Guyana Online (GOL).

For further details see http://point-topic.com/content/operatorSource/profiles2/guyana-broadband-overview.htm

ICT in education initiatives

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

Institute of Distance and Continuing Education, University of Guyana

The University of Guyana has an Institute of Distance and Continuing Education which offers the opportunity to increase and improve knowledge and skills by using distance learning. Courses available by distance methods include 'Pre-University English' and 'Pre-University Mathematics'

http://www.uog.edu.gy/schools/idce/pages/distance.html

Schools initiatives

• SchoolNet Guyana

Other initiatives

• The Guyana School of Agriculture

• Distance Education and Information Unit (Guyana)

• DevNet, a non governmental organization specializing in the use and application of information technology for national development, the Soceity for Empowerment and Wholistic Advancement (SEWA) and BrainStreet Technologies, a educational content development company and the creator of the online learning platform http://www.BrainStreet.net have collaborated for the design, development and implementation of a project which will expand on the creation of a low cost technical platform for a community access point, and the development of e-learning based specific objectives including:

1. Develop a second low cost community access point using the technology available - Linux Terminal Server and refurbished/used computers

2. Enable the use of computer assisted learning to support education

3. Develop educational material on the BrainStreet e-learning platform (www.BrainStreet.net) available to the selected communities in courses for digital skills literacy (multi mode), small business management (e-learning), and e-business/mbusiness development (e-learning)

4. Deliver the content to 20 persons from two rural communities as part of this project, and then expand to other areas

http://www.carib-is.net/using-low-cost-ict-enabled-learning-solutions-improve-livelihoods-rural-guyana

• One training institution – the KuruKuru Cooperative College is embarking on a pilot project to offer some of its courses online, looking at opportunities for a wider market within the Caribbean as well. They intend to share the lessons from the pilot with the Guyana Chapter of the Association of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions. Not clear whether the courses offered online will be school level or more advanced. http://www.carib-is.net/using-low-cost-ict-enabled-learning-solutions-improve-livelihoods-rural-guyana

• The predominant thrust of existing distance education programmes in Guyana is towards remediation and the development of the skills of junior professionals, especially teachers. http://www.col.org/SiteCollectionDocuments/2_conf_proc_Anderson.pdf

Among these programmes are:

• The Guyanese Teacher Training College

• The Distance Education Foundation for Unqualified Teachers (Guyana)

• The Guyana In-service Distance Education Programme

• The Pre-University Programme (Guyana)

Lessons learnt

There is a clear case for distance education in the country.

References

• Wikipedia articles: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guyana, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Guyana and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Colleges_in_Guyana
• Guyana Broadband Overview, http://point-topic.com/content/operatorSource/profiles2/guyana-broadband-overview.htm

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For OER policies and projects in Guyana see Guyana/OER

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