GUYANA | Gov't not happy, kicks Student out of Calypso competion for protest lyrics, WPA annoyed

GEORGETOWN,  Guyana, February 15, 2024 - The Working People's Alliance (WPA) has strongly condemned the recent decision by the Ministry of Education to disqualify a six-year-old student from a Mashramani Calypso competition on the grounds that the lyrics of her calypso do not fit the guidelines for songs in her age-group. 

A statement from the WPA says “This explanation by the government insults the intelligence of Guyanese and questions “Since when are children disqualified from engaging in social and political commentary?”

In addition,  gthe organization asks “Which part of the constitution bars schoolchildren from singing songs that comment on topical issues?”

“If children are permitted to sing songs which are considered “jam and wine”, why are they banned from singing songs with serious lyrics? Can the government say what moral or other forms of danger can singing such a calypso bring to the child in question and children in general? Finally, if the calypso violated the “guidelines, why was it not disqualified during the preliminary stages of the competition—why now?

The Working People’s Alliance says “It is clear that the government takes exception to the lyrics which critique the country’s high cost of living and the government’s meagre 6.5 percent wage increase to public servants. Such lyrics are a staple of the calypso art-form and fall within the category of calypso which serve as forms of socio-political rebuke. This is nothing short of government censorship that is reminiscent of the colonial era when calypsos were deemed subversive and banned by the authorities,” the WPA says.

“Such action by a post-independence government is inconsistent with the values of independence and freedom. Censorship of art and culture is a tried and tested tactic of authoritarian government and governance. All calypsonians and artists must take stock of this development and raise their voices in protest.”

The WPA has charged that “The government’s action is an attack on creative expression, a sacred right of all Guyanese. It is also a frontal attack on an art-form that is central to African Guyanese, Guyanese and Caribbean cultural expression—calypso is the mother-music of the Anglophone Caribbean. This action reeks of cultural insensitivity from a party and government which have been found guilty of ethno-cultural discrimination.”

 WPA wants the government to “Get off the back of calypso. There was calypso before the PPP and the art-form will never surrender to government domination” the WPA says.

The Working People’s Alliance  says it sees the government’s action as “an attack on children”. 

“What message are we sending to children when they are told by the government that they are free to sing lewd songs but prohibited from singing songs with uplifting lyrics? The government does not seem to care that it may have crushed the spirit of a child and in the process dragged her into unwanted controversy. This is nothing short of callousness on the government’s part. We have again sunk to a new low in Guyana—this time a child is the sacrificial lamb,” the WPA Concludes.