10
+1=? That is a
question that a 10 year old child in Plastic City cannot answer.
On Thursday, I had the privilege of going
to dinner with one of the pastors from Vreed-en-hoop Wesleyan
Church. He teaches at a
secondary (middle) school here, and his wife is a professor in the Educational
program at the University
of Guyana. His wife
Corrine, was telling me about the educational system in Guyana. I
walked away from that dinner overwhelmed, but also more sure of what the Lord
wants with my life.
In the States we have the “No Child Left Behind” program; Guyana used to
have that, but in the past ten years, their educational system has changed.
Now in Guyana, if you don’t pass your end-of-year test, you still pass the class! In my opinion, that is why I find a ten year old who
doesn’t know what 10 + 1 equals. It breaks my heart.
Teachers here teach for the test. They write
math problems on the board, (and in this particular child’s class) the teacher gives the
children the answer and instructs them to copy it in their exercise book. My
frustration comes as I realize that these children aren’t being given the chance to make a better life for themselves, because they aren’t
getting an education where they learn and utilize critical thinking skills to help them go anywhere.
So when you go to places
like PAL, and try to help these children, you have to start at the very beginning: teaching an 8 year old phonics, and a 14 year old what continent they
live on. I am overwhelmed when I think about the lives these children are going
to have if they don’t get a better education. The life that faces them is one
where they live the same lives their parents or grandparents live, because they
are stuck in that never ending cycle of poverty. 
A child in the school system
in Guyana
really has to make an effort to stand up and say “I am not going to live this
life.” They have to work twice as hard as other children to get a better
education so they can get a good job. Additionally, they need someone to step
in and say, "I will help you learn what '10+1' equals."; teaching, not for a test, but for the love of learning. Poverty is a never ending cycle, and can only
be broken if the support system is available for the child.
~By Amber Gravley