Georgetown: The General Secretary of the People’s National Congress Reform Oscar Clarke, during his address to special invitees at a Commemoration Service hosted in honour of the 30th anniversary of the death of Guyana’s first executive President, the late Linden Forbes Sampson Burnham called for the reinstatement of the Guyana National Service (GNS).
Clarke was at the time making a feature address on behalf of President Granger. He added that many persons above the age of 45 would remember how great the National Service experience was for them.
He added that the late President wanted persons to inhabit interior locations and as a result of this the “jungle” training aspect was added to the list of courses offered by the programme. In the decade and a half during which the programme was pushed by the state, there was no noticeable settlement of GNS graduates in the hinterland.
However, Clarke believes that the new Granger-led Administration may be reinstating the programme soon.
The National Service was introduced in 1974 and its rationale was offered by Burnham in a speech to the National Assembly in 1973: “National Service, when introduced, will be used as a vehicle for the national orientation of large sections of our population; it will also give the opportunity to various sections of the community, in terms of categories and ethnicity to meet on common ground and to share common experiences.
“It is an operation which so far as its concept is concerned carries in it the seed of bringing about a more cohesive nation.”
Burnham thus saw the GNS as a vehicle to bring Guyanese together. However, later in 1973, in a speech at the University of Guyana, he introduced one of the most objectionable features of the GNS – compulsorily service for UG graduates. “If I have my way, and subject to the approval of Parliament, aspirants for a degree at the local University would be required to enter into a period of National Service after leaving secondary school.” Many persons felt that when he saw the mix of graduating students, he insisted that they have to join the GNS.
Burnham did have his way and UG graduates had to serve between 12 and 18 months in the GNS in the interior. Of the 63 students compulsorily inducted into the GNS in the first year, 53 were Indians and of those 25 were female (90 per cent of the women). Most of the Indian women dropped out of UG rather than serve in the interior camps.
The GNS otherwise consisted mainly of out-of-school boys and later girls, between the ages of 15 and 20 years. After three months of military training by Guyana Defence Force instructors, the first batch of 68 young men was sent to a training centre at Tumatumari, Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).
However, the National Service was eventually discontinued by the previous Administration, the main reason for this was because “the project lost its importance in the 1980s”. This explanation was given by then Government Chief Whip Gail Teixeira in a 2008 interview with sections of the media. There have been periodic calls since then for a revival of the GNS against the background of high youth unemployment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.