WHY CONSULT ONLY NOW?

Feb 23, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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A government democratically elected to office, must rule as if it enjoys the will of the people. It must confidently exercise its mandate by making decisions and acting decisively on those decisions.
While it is always best if, as far as is possible, an elected government consults with the opposition and other societal forces on matters of national concern, it should still be able to make routine decisions without having to consult.
On matters of major policy, the government should always consult and consult widely.
The PPP government consults selectively and often consultations are held on its own terms.
The administration lacks the confidence to make decisions, is afraid of the opposition in this country when it comes to certain matters, and therefore retreats whenever the opportunity arises for it to assert itself.
Two examples will illustrate the problem. The first is the decision to recruit foreign-based teachers to teach certain subjects within the school system.
This is a fairly rational decision. There is nothing devilish about it. While there may be persons and groups who may be opposed to it, such opposition will most probably be because there are concerns that a) the foreign teachers will be treated more favourably and b) they may feel that the foreign teachers would displace local teachers.
The government, however, can hardly have sinister intentions in pursuing this course.
The government clearly has identified a serious problem within the educational system and wants this problem addressed. There are concerns by the union, and given that the union represents teachers, it should meet with the union and explain its position.
This would be the sensible thing to do. Instead of this, however, what we have are statements that no decision will be taken until a meeting is held with the Teaching Service Commission (TSC).
Now, what does the TSC have to do with a policy decision made by the government? If the government in its wisdom, whether through consultation or otherwise, decides that in the interest of the welfare of the children of Guyana, that it has to recruit foreign teachers, why does it need to meet with the TSC, which is simply responsible for appointments, promotions and disciplining of teachers?
The TSC was created so as to ensure that there are no political conditions applied to teacher appointments, promotions and disciplining. It was thus established to guard against politicization of these functions.
In exercising its functions, the TSC has to be mindful of the policies of the government. But it has no role in making or influencing those policies. (And there are no indications that it has any such intent).  Thus, if there is a rule that no child should be left back and a teacher flouts this rule, the TSC, in deciding whether to discipline the teacher, is not required to pronounce on the appropriateness of the policy, but simply to adjudicate whether the policy was breached by the teacher and, if so, then what should be the consequences of the breach.
If the government of Guyana has made a decision to recruit foreign teachers, it should do so.  The TSC is the sole authority to appoint teachers and therefore its consent would be needed to appoint the teachers as a matter of policy, but powers of appointment need not translate to powers of placement, which is an administrative duty. The TSC appoints teachers, but the Ministry of Education should be the one which places teachers.
If on the other hand the policy of the government is to have the TSC make specific appointments to specific schools, then the positions would have to be advertised and the foreign teachers would have to apply for the specific teaching posts.
If the government is afraid to move ahead then it should find some other excuse. It should not be afraid to say that it has changed its mind out of fear of the reaction of persons opposed to the decision.
The second matter concerns Mash Day. It has been reported that there was discussions with the opposition on postponing Mash Day. Now, here again, it may be a good thing that consultations are taking place, but why on an issue such as Mash Day? Why consult the opposition on this and not on some other important issue such as Procurement Legislation or the decision to establish an inter-faith television channel? Why not consult them on matters more serious than Mash Day when it is clear that it will be the weather more than anything else which will decide whether Guyanese take to the streets today or some other day.
The government was put there to run the affairs of this country. It has done so for almost the last five years without bothering too much about either structured or regular consultations with the opposition? Why now? Is a power-sharing deal in the making?

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