M.O.E/G.T.U launches Schools’ National Championships

Jun 18, 2010 Sports

From left Region Six Representative, Shafiran Bhajan, Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Education, Phulander Khandai, Region Four Chairman, Clement Corlette, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony, Guyana Teachers Union (G.T.U) President, Colin Bynoe and G.T.U Representative, Lance Baptiste at yesterday’s launching of the National Schools’ Athletics, Cycling and Swimming Championships.

-Anthony urges stakeholders to change perspective

By Edison Jefford
The Ministry of Education (M.O.E) and the Guyana Teachers Union (G.T.U) yesterday launched the 50th National Schools’ Athletics, Cycling and Swimming Championships, which will be held during November 9-12 at the Guyana National Stadium.
Official from both stakeholder groups thronged the National Stadium for the launch of the event that Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony indicated has had its fair share of ups and downs over the years it has been in existence.
“I am very pleased to be here this afternoon as we launch the 50th anniversary of this event. I think it is a significant milestone. I think we ought to do something special. There were times over the years that this event was held in a spectacular way and other times we have had dips in what I would term to be poor organising,” Anthony said.
The minister believes that if the Championship is really intended to be special this year, then the ministries involved along with the G.T.U must change their perspective of sports. He stated that the relevant training and preparation has to be spot on.
“We have to get together with the Central Organising Committee and map out a programme before this event, so that we will know on the day of the event that we really have good events happening, that is very important,” he said.
“We also have to know way in advance, what is going to be the budget to manage this event. Not as we go and we are unfolding the event, we then add on something there. Proper planning would dictate that we have a budget way in advance and we work with that. I think the Minister of Education would appreciate that also,” he continued.
Anthony informed that there have been issues with accountability in the past and it is an issue that they have to deal with frontally. He urged the G.T.U and the various committees to eradicate all the negatives ahead of the half of a century old competition.
Regional Chairman of Region Four, who is a member of the central committee, Clement Corlette assured the minister that the central committee and the Local Organising Committee (L.O.C) will be working “assiduously” to ensure that the Games are a success.
“We feel that the abilities and attributes that would give recognition to athletes normally emerge from these Games, for those reasons, we feel very much honoured to be hosting this event at this time. What I want to assure is that we have already started our preliminary interventions into the venues that will be used to assess the situation,” Corlette said.
He concurred with the minister’s encouragement to have a more proactive approach, stating that they are doing their groundwork well in advance to ensure that they have their hands on most of the issues that are likely to emerge from the competition.
“We are doing that well in time so that we will have a better handling of the situation.
We would like to make sure these Games bring rewarding benefits to all the participants and sponsors and create new friendships, relationships and competition,” he added.
President of GTU, Colin Bynoe gave a brief historical background of the Championships and the outstanding athletes it churned out over the years before expressing the firm belief that the event must be separated into two different factions to fulfil its purpose.
“Where are we now, it’s a situation where we have to go back to having the Primary and Secondary competitions separated if we are to really keep up with our Caribbean brothers and sisters from Jamaica, Barbados and the Bahamas etc.,” Bynoe said.
Bynoe highlighted some of the outstanding athletes that the event has produced. Those included, Marian Burnett, Aliann Pompey, James Wren Gilkes, Elton Jefford and June Griffith among several others. He said that was to emphasise the value of the event.
“Over the years we had some people who made the championship special,” Bynoe stated, adding that schools’ championships have evolved to the point that they can now have scholarships for an athlete or athletes from outside Georgetown to be housed.
He said that if the occasion is to return to its “glory days” where we can compete with the region, it will take more corporate intervention and support which the event used to get from Beepat’s under the Milo brand and Demerara Distillers Limited under its Soca brand.
“I want to encourage all the big businesses to come on board. I want to encourage, Digicel, B.K International, Courtney Benn, National Hardware, Gafoors… you need to come on board because we all need to put something into this championship so that Guyana can once again produce the champions, not only for Guyana, but for the Caribbean,” Bynoe concluded.