In Guyana it is recognised that the output of schooling at all levels starting at the primary level is inadequate to meet the challenges of the 21st century. This paper describes an attempt by the author, as Director of the National Centre for Educational Resource Development to address the problem of literacy at the primary level through curriculum development, specifically the use of Skills Reinforcement Guides.

This book is a welcome addition to the too slowly increasing literature on the history and sociology of education in the Commonwealth Caribbean. Students and administrators will find the book invaluable for an understanding of the problems of planning education in a Caribbean territory. Professor Bacchus' main theme is the massive expansion of education facilities in Guyana, especially at the secondary level, from the mid 1940s to 1974.

Selective education research has demonstrated that students are aware of the low status of being allocated to a low-ability school. Recent data in Guyana has shown that low-ability school attendance is associated with low rates of student attendance, retention, and graduation. This study aims to understand the effects of ability grouping on students by comparing the psychosocial well-being of students from different ability schools.

Using a case study of one of Guyana’s Amerindian Women’s Groups—the Tapakuma Women’s Development Group—this paper describes an intervention strategy by an international funding agency designed to improve the socio-economic conditions of these women through the effective use and management of land resources at their disposal. The situation of Amerindian women in Guyana and the Amerindian Land Title/Rights issue are also highlighted.

In an ostensibly ‘English only’ language policy in a dominant Creole speaking linguistic situation, teachers and students involuntarily shift from the official linguistic expectations of the school. This paper is a preliminary venture to discover the social and pedagogical factors causing the shift. The results of a language atitudes survey carried out by random stratified sampling of primary schools in Guyana are presented.

The paucity of trained and qualified teachers and poor mathematical attainment at the primary school level in Guyana triggered the introduction of the cost-effective Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) Mathematics Programmes. This study examined teachers’ classroom practice, and explored teachers’ and pupils’ reactions to IRI in grade two mathematics classrooms. Eighteen schools, nine urban and nine rural schools, were involved in this study.