Guyana recognizes that education is a powerful tool for poverty reduction 

Dear Editor,

The OGGN (Oil and Gas Governance Network) said the claim that moderate poverty rate between 2019 and 2024 has been reduced by one half does not find support from the United Nations’

SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) on Guyana (SN: 6/10/25).

OGGN quoted UN poverty rates between 2017 and 2022 that averaged 44.5% per annum. Two points are noted here. First, these rates suggest that there has not been any significant reduction of poverty during this 6- year period. Second, the UN figures do not seem to be based on any recent poverty survey; instead, it says that the poverty rates were estimates. What was their source?   

The statement that Guyana’s “last poverty assessment was undertaken nearly twenty years ago” is incorrect. The most recent poverty survey, the Household Budget, and Living Conditions Survey (HBLCS), was completed in 2019, six years ago. The purpose of HBLCS was to combine income and expenditure data with living conditions information and to update the items in the “consumption basket,” as well as assign weights to them based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Currently, the results of HBLCS are not accessible. 

In the absence of HBLCS data, the World Bank’s 2019 data on poverty can be used as a reference, although their results differ from those of other agencies. For instance, the second HIES (Household Income and Expenditure Survey) of 2006, which is considered comprehensive, had reported a poverty rate of 36.1%, whereas the World Bank’s rate for that same year was 60.9%. Various pre-1992 poverty studies conducted by IFAD, IDB, SIMAP, UNDP, PAHO, and the World Bank also show differences in poverty rates. These variations arise because different agencies utilize different methods and assign different weights to the items (food and non-food) in the “consumption basket.” 

 Guyana recognizes that education is a powerful tool for poverty reduction. According to The World Bank, “among the determinants of poverty, education levels appear to have the strongest association with poverty status… completing secondary education was associated with a significant decline in poverty rates” (Gampat, 2020). The United Nations indicates that Guyana is on track to achieve the 4th Sustainable Development Goal, “Quality Education,” by 2030. 

Guyana has extended free public education to the tertiary level and all government training programmes by BIT (Board of Industrial Training) and TVET (Tech-nical Vocational Educational Training). Over the last 5 years, more than 35,000 scholarships were awarded. Guyanese students have outperformed CARICOM students at the CSEC and CAPE exams. Tertiary education and training are now accessible to those previously unable to reach them. 

Thousands of people living below the revised World Bank poverty line of US$6.85 per person per day are expected to rise above it soon. Over the next three years, improvements in education, health, jobs, nutrition, water, and sanitation will significantly reduce poverty beyond 24%. 

Regarding remittances, they contribute to Guyana’s GDP and serve multiple purposes, including reducing poverty, renovating, or building houses, buying house lots, covering medical expenses, starting small businesses, paying off debts, handling emergencies, acquiring ICT products, and purchasing durable consumer goods. It may not be accurate therefore to assume a direct correlation between high remittances and a perception of high poverty rates. For instance, the interior region which has the highest poverty rate (WB 2019: 65.5%) also has the lowest level of remittances.

 Sincerely 

 Dr Tara Singh 

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