HGP Nightly News – Leader of the Alliance For Change, David Patterson, says the growing concern over young males leaving school early must be treated as a serious national issue, warning that the failure to keep boys engaged in education may be contributing to youth unemployment and crime.
Patterson made the comments while responding to questions from Nightly News exclusively about recent concerns raised in a UNDP report, including findings that many Guyanese students are leaving the school system around Grade Nine, with boys being more affected than girls.
The AFC Leader said the issue of male dropouts is deeply troubling, both to him personally and to his party.
“The question of males, in particular young males, dropping out of school is something which I personally find, and I think my party finds, extremely troubling,” Patterson said.
He said the country must look honestly at the environment young boys are growing up in, including the decline of positive male influences in schools, homes and wider society.
According to Patterson, there was a time when schools had more male teachers and boys had stronger daily contact with male role models. He said that influence has weakened over time, leaving many young males without enough guidance at a critical stage of their development.
“The male influence, not only teachers alone but parents and those things, has been dwindling,” he said.
Patterson also argued that many young people are now exposed to role models who appear to gain status or wealth through less honest means, which can distort their sense of what success should look like.
He said boys who are falling behind academically should not be left to drift until they abandon school or become vulnerable to crime.
Instead, Patterson said the education system should identify such students earlier and place them on practical pathways that can lead to employment.
He criticised what he described as a “one size fits all” approach to education, saying it does not work for every child.
“This one-size-fits-all approach definitely needs addressing,” Patterson said.
The AFC Leader said all students should continue doing core subjects, but those who are not academically inclined should be given opportunities to enter technical and vocational streams earlier.
He pointed to older multilateral school models, where students could pursue areas such as woodwork, metalwork and technical education, and use those skills to build a career.
According to Patterson, not every student needs to take large numbers of academic subjects if their strengths and interests lie elsewhere.
He said a stronger technical education system could help keep at-risk boys connected to school, build employable skills and reduce the likelihood of them being pulled into crime or unemployment.
Patterson also suggested that Guyana should revisit some form of national service as part of the education and youth development system.
He said national service, if properly structured, could provide young people outside the formal academic track with discipline, training and new skills.
He argued that such a programme could also ease pressure on families while giving young people a more structured environment in which to develop.
For Patterson, the issue is not only about education statistics. He said the country must recognise that when boys fall out of school early, the consequences can show up later in unemployment, social instability and crime.
He said Guyana must now seriously examine its education system and create targeted responses for young males before more of them are lost to the streets.
