Archives for April 16, 2016
Nothing sinister in new NGSA format – CEO claims
April 16, 2016 By
Chief Education Officer (CEO), of the Education Ministry Olato Sam said there is “nothing sinister” in the
Ministry’s move to change the format of the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) examinations to include a requirement for the students to write their names on the examination paper.
Since publicly announcing the new requirement, the Ministry and Government have come in for censure from certain sections of the public. Opposition member and former Minister of Education Priya Manickchand have blasted government over “not being able to explain the value of such a move.”
Speaking with the media on Friday however, Sam restated that, “there is absolutely nothing sinister or secretive” about the process, and further, the officers of the Ministry of Education are professionals that “do not get themselves involved in sinister and secretive processes.”
The CEO explained that in changing the format, the Ministry consulted the premier assessment entity in the region, (which is the Caribbean Examinations Council). He also said the Ministry adopted the new format and measures because “they are more efficient and will be more effective in preserving the integrity of our assessment in Guyana and that is our primary concern.”
“It is not my place to get involved in any of the other things, but I can assure all of the public that our assessment process is going to be conducted with the standards and the expectations that are not just local, but are regional,” Sam stated.
“We have certainly ensured that all of the expectations that are actually enshrined in the assessment processes that have international standards are now being brought to bear on the local process,” he added.
According to Sam, the Ministry is currently crafting a broad-based response to public concerns raised over the new format for the examination. This is in addition to a press release that the Ministry would have already sent out outlining clearly, that the new requirements are administrative functions that will in no way affect the marking process of the examinations.
Manickchand had again lashed out at Government over the “real” changes made to the format of the NGSA, noting that it could lead to subjectivity.
The NGSA, expected to be written by more than 14,000 students across the country in a matter of two weeks, now requires students to inscribe their names on the examination paper along with their identification/registration numbers.
Manickchand suggested that the move to change the format and layout of the exam from the way it has been done for decades, could be an attempt at victimisation. But that is just a suggestion and the former Education Minister said she hopes Government through the Education Ministry could show reason for its sudden decision to ask students to now write their names on their examination papers.
Manickchand said this new development could cause much more trouble than in any way help, and her Party is still seeking to figure out in what way the change could help. She said the Ministry has not been forthcoming with information regarding this.
A number of parents, she noted, have contacted her with concerns over the changes. That had prompted her to make contact with officials at the Ministry, including Chief Education Officer Olato Sam and the officer responsible for primary education.
According to Manickchand, although she had a detailed response, she still could not fathom the reason for children’s names being written on their exam paper.
She said it is always hard to keep integrity of examinations intact. This new development, she said, will most definitely shake the integrity of the examination, which took “many years building up”.
Has Moses effectively edged out Trotman?
April 16, 2016 By
Dear Editor,
Now that Nagamootoo is exclusively Prime Minister of Information and not permitted to chair cabinet meetings, promised under the Cummingsburg Accord, has he moved up a notch? Subsequent to the PNC-AFC coalition’s 2015 ascendency to government, Raphael Trotman was named as Minister for Governance in David “Nassau” Granger’s Office of the President. Later he was promoted as Minister of Natural Resources.
Surprising was a report in another section of the media on April 4, 2016 that a team from the US State Department Wednesday met Nagamootoo as Prime Minister, “to discuss regulatory planning for the oil and gas sector” in Guyana. The State Department’s Energy Governance and Capacity Initiative (EGCI) programme apparently discussed providing technical and capacity building assistance to Guyana now on the verge of becoming an oil and gas producer.
The report said the US “team will work closely with the Prime Minister who has oversight of governance matters; the Ministry of Natural Resources, within whose ambit rests responsibility for oil and gas; and various state agencies and ministries.”
Has Trotman lost his mojo and been cut down to size for his absence at the AFC leadership retreat which issued a blistering censure of the APNU-AFC coalition for corruption subsequently triggering Nigel Hughes (deferred) resignation? It must be recalled that consequent to Trotman’s secret rendezvous with David “this is Nassau” Granger which hatched their 2005 master plan in The Bahamas to form the AFC in 2006, Trotman was six years later on the rise as Speaker after the 2011 elections.
The AFC’s creation successfully reunited, harnessed and prevented disgruntled former PNC supporters from joining up with the PPP/C. It easily co-opted disgruntled PPP/C critics like Khemraj Ramjattan by splitting them off that negligent party, Trotman quickly became the darling prodigal son who quite naturally was returned to PNC embrace later.
The combined APNU-AFC opposition was able to get a one seat majority after the 2011 elections thanks to PPP/C negligence of their base constituency. Entitled to name the Speaker, Opposition Leader “Nassau” Granger promptly rejected Trotman’s own AFC nominated candidate of the PPP/C’s absconding Moses Nagamootoo. How was Trotman able to so easily become the preferred choice for services rendered to become Speaker was no secret any longer.
While an ambitious Nagamootoo has claimed the PPP/C did not elect him as their party leader because he was not Hindu enough, he has failed miserably to explain why both non Hindus Donald Ramotar and Clement Rohee actually became the PPP/C’s President and General Secretary.
Why was Nagamootoo again flushed away and fumigated as Speaker by both the PNC and AFC leadership? If he is secretly viewed by his colleagues as a loose cannon why is he in charge of natural resources negotiations for Guyana?
Respectfully,
Sultan Mohamed
More road safety education needed – Education Committee Chairman
April 16, 2016 By
Chairman of the Region 10 (Upper Demerara/Berbice) Education Committee Denise Belgrave said there is need for additional road safety education to be imparted to the Region’s students.
According to Belgrave, this is one of the recommendations brought to the fore at a recent committee meeting. She noted that generally, students have been observed using the roadways in a haphazard manner, hence the need for more education. As such, she said the committee will be targeting the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) bodies to try to bring the “much needed” road safety education to school-children across the region.
“Because we would have found that the children use the road very haphazardly, so we want to incorporate the Road Safety Committee to the PTA body to work along,” she said.
Meanwhile, Councillor of the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Charles Sampson has also made calls for traffic education to be taught in schools, through the Ministry of Education. He said teachers should be trained in order to impart knowledge to students.
Belgrave has also stressed the need for guidance counsellors in every school since there are a lot of social issues that need to be addressed. She said while she is uncertain as to how soon this will happen, the need still exists.
Closure of LBI operations not a wise move
April 16, 2016 By
Dear Editor,
It was saddening to hear of GuySuCo’s decision to end the operations at LBI Estate. From what I understand a number of departments including the Field Workshop would be closed and its tasks discharged from the workshop at Enmore Estate.
I do not think this is a wise move by GuySuCo. Given the distance between Enmore and LBI it would be both time-consuming and costly for mechanics to travel to repair machines and other equipment in the LBI cultivation.
Time is important especially when tillage operations are being carried out. I recall when the Diamond cultivation was in existence, GuySuCo maintained a workshop at that location for such occasions.
I also understand that the Enmore workshop is too small and cannot accommodate the total machine fleet from both LBI and Enmore. This will undoubtedly cause major problems.
What is the real reason for GuySuCo’s hasty decision to close the LBI operations?
Yours sincerely,
Fredrick Yuvraj
Seized items are returned to prison officers – Commander Hicken
April 16, 2016 By
Deadly Prison Riot
As the Commission of Inquiry continues into the deadly Camp Street Prison fire, A Division Commander Clifton Hicken has revealed that whenever police seize certain items from inmates, they are returned to the Guyana Prison Service.
In his testimony to Commissioners on Thursday, Commander Hicken stated that police ranks would normally search for “arms and ammunition” and noted that whenever they see items such as phones and weapons, they are returned to prison officers.
These responses were obtained under cross-examination of witness by Attorney representing two inmates, Dexter Todd, who suggested to the Commander that the Police has “always found items in the prison that ought not to be there.”
“We would have found items in the prison –the prison service tells you if its authorized or not… whenever we found items like phone, improvised weapons and the rest of it, it is handed over to the prison service – that’s the SOP [Standard Operating Procedure],” Hicken testified.
It was also stated that these searches are conducted once per month but dates vary according to the contributing factors at the time. One of the mandatory searches was conducted just two days before the 3 March riots.
Hicken was further questioned as to if on a policy level, information is filtered to the police as to what should or should not be in the cell to which the Commander responded in the affirmative.
However Hicken explained that he did not brief himself on the report of the last search conducted and as such was not inclined to answer any further questions on the matter.
On 5 April the Commission heard the shocking revelation that prison wardens are the ones that sell mobile phones to prisoners. This was the testimony of Carl Brown, an inmate who is currently severing 13 years for murder. It was explained that prisoners can purchase the mobile devices for $7000 in the Camp Street Prison.
Brown told Commissioners that he has his seventh phone since being behind bars, and admitted that he would often update his Facebook account about life in prison.
Brown had also told the Commission that whenever a phone is seized, a fee is paid and the phone is returned.
Vitally important to Guyana diplomatic posture
April 16, 2016 By