Guyana History and Education
History of Guyana
Before European colonization, the territory of modern Guyana was inhabited by tribes of Caribs and Arawaks. In 1499, the Spanish navigator Alonso de Ojeda discovered the territory of Guyana, and the first European settlement was founded in 1581 by the Dutch, and later an English settlement also appeared. In 1796, the British became the actual rulers, but hostilities between Holland and Great Britain (as well as France) continued until 1815, when the Congress of Vienna officially transferred the colonies of Essequibo, Demerara and Berbice to the English crown, which in 1831 were united into one colony of British Guiana. From Ser. 17th century Negroes began to be imported into Guyana to work on sugar plantations and mines. In 1763, the first major uprising broke out under the leadership of the legendary Kaffi, who became a national hero of the Guyanese people. Slavery was abolished in 1834 and from 1838, Indians, and later Chinese, began to be imported as contracted low-paid and cruelly exploited labor (coolies). In the 1880s the first farms appeared, with the help of which the colonial authorities sought to consolidate the Indian population in the country.
In 1928, a Constitution was introduced in British Guiana, on the basis of which the Legislative and Executive Councils were created as elements of self-government (since 1943, most of the members of the Legislative Council began to be elected). After World War II, the movement of the country’s patriotic forces for political independence intensified. In 1950, on the basis of the Political Affairs Committee, Guyana’s first party, the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), was created, with Forbes Burnham as chairman, Cheddi Jagan as vice chairman, and his wife Janet Jagan as general secretary. In 1953, Great Britain suspended the Constitution and brought in its troops under the pretext of a “communist threat” when the NPP won a landslide victory in the first general elections of that year, advocating the transition of Guyanese society from capitalism to socialism. The colonial authorities managed to sow ethnic discord in the ranks of patriotic forces, in particular in the NPP, and since then the racial factor has dominated Guyanese politics, which has repeatedly led to violent clashes between Afro-Guyanese and Indo-Guyanese. In 1955, Burnham, who left the NPP, founded a new party, the People’s National Congress (PNC), which relied mainly on the Afro-Guyanese community, in contrast to the NPP, which was primarily supported by the Indians. In the elections of 1957 and 1961, which were held according to the majoritarian system, the NPP won, and its leader, Ch. Jagan, was the first prime minister of British Guiana from 1957–64. In the 1964 elections, held on the principle of proportional representation, the NOC, in coalition with the United Forces party, created in 1960, won the majority of votes, and F. Burnham became prime minister.
On May 26, 1966, the political independence of Guyana was proclaimed, and on February 23, 1970 (on the anniversary of the beginning of the uprising of slaves led by Caffee), a republic was proclaimed, the country received a new name – the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. After the death of Burnham in 1985, who was the first president of the republic, the new leader and president of Guyana, Hugh Desmond Hoyt, in view of the most acute and prolonged economic crisis in the country, put forward in 1987 at the NOC Congress a program of economic revival, which meant a rejection of the orthodox socialist ideology and recognized the need to stimulate private enterprise and open political society. The 1992 elections were won by the NPP, which also adheres to socialist ideology, but in the new conditions advocated the creation of a mixed three-sector economy, against further nationalization, for the use of market elements of regulation. C. Jagan was elected president. After his death in March 1997, Prime Minister S. Hinds (leader of the Civil Movement SIVIC, who acted in a bloc with the NPP in the 1992 elections) took the post of president of the country in accordance with the Constitution. In the regular elections on December 15, 1997, Janet Jagan was elected president of Guyana, and her party won the majority of seats in parliament (in August 1999, J. Jagan voluntarily resigned for health reasons, B. Jagdeo took the presidency). In the early elections in March 2001, the NPP again won in a coalition with CIVIC. speaking in a bloc with the NPP in the elections of 1992) took the post of president of the country in accordance with the Constitution. In the regular elections on December 15, 1997, Janet Jagan was elected president of Guyana, and her party won the majority of seats in parliament (in August 1999, J. Jagan voluntarily resigned for health reasons, B. Jagdeo took the presidency). In the early elections in March 2001, the NPP again won in a coalition with CIVIC. speaking in a bloc with the NPP in the elections of 1992) took the post of president of the country in accordance with the Constitution. In the regular elections on December 15, 1997, Janet Jagan was elected president of Guyana, and her party won the majority of seats in parliament (in August 1999, J. Jagan voluntarily resigned for health reasons, B. Jagdeo took the presidency). In the early elections in March 2001, the NPP again won in a coalition with CIVIC.
Science and culture of Guyana
According to educationvv, the higher education system is represented by the University of Guyana at Georgetown. There is also a Pedagogical College and 2 training centers. The originality of Guyanese culture is manifested in its literature (writers – E. Mittelholzer, T. Harris, E. Braithwaite, poets – M. Carter, A. Seymour), wooden architecture, in particular in the pseudo-Gothic cathedral (1889-92, architect A. Blomfield ), artistic creativity of folk craftsmen combining Negro and Indian traditions (for example, in woodcarving).
