A better system needed to share because we care vouchers

Nov 09, 2014 Letters

Dear Editor,
The sharing of the $10,000 school voucher is not a bad initiative by the government but there are some flaws which I observed that should be addressed by the Ministry of Education. The former school vouchers that were shared were just $1,500,and that was hassle free from all the long lines and sharing of numbers, and the vouchers could have been used to purchase school items at many stores.
The sharing of this new $10,000 voucher is a very tedious process for families. My first observation is the sharing of numbers and these are numbers for various grades that have different long lines. For example, if a parent has three children at three different grades in the same school, that parent will have to uplift three different numbers for every grade his/her child is in that now incorporates them to join three different lines. That’s virtually impossible to achieve in one day.
Why is it that the school couldn’t tabulate the names of the children on one list and let the parent collect his/her voucher in one line? Some parents I know spent over eight hours in different lines and couldn’t get all their vouchers; and the sad part is they only have one day to get all their vouchers; it’s not given the next day.
Then we have working parents who cannot leave their jobs to uplift their vouchers because of their job schedules.
Why is it a more effective and efficient system was not in place to facilitate every family, just like the previous system they had when they were sharing the $1,500 vouchers? I haven’t seen much big difference with the previous system; it’s only a couple more thousands is added to the voucher.
Then we have many parents that can’t read, old parents, pregnant mothers etc. all have to stand waiting in the sun or on some school bench sitting as if they are begging for a hand out. I wonder if our ministers in government would like to wait over five hours in a line for a $10,000 voucher. How many of them stepping out of their air condition Prados can even stand one hour in the sun to make a long boring speech before this money is shared. Everything with our present administration is about the politics and how good we have done for our people. Any politics without a proper administration and modern effective policies is unhealthy for our people as a nation.
Editor, the long voucher lines doesn’t end at the school. This $10,000 voucher can only be cashed at Western Union offices and most Western Union branches only have about three cashiers working and many smaller ones only have one cashier. I saw lines at Western Union by the hundreds. Some folks line up as early as 5.00 a.m to cash their vouchers to be told at 9AM that Western Union doesn’t have money.
It’s ridiculous that our people have become like a puppet on a long string just for $10,000 while many have fainted in the lines and even starved the whole day and can’t get their money. My questions are many which I may never get an answer for.
Why is it that the ‘’because we care vouchers’’ can only be cashed at Western Union?
Why can’t they be cashed at any bank? Banks have money, Western Union doesn’t have enough money to give out to hundreds of families?
And why do these vouchers have an expiry date November 30th,2014?
With proper security, why couldn’t they give out cash to parents?
To govern a nation we need vision and proper management skills which we don’t seem to have. In all our ministries and prominent offices we are greeted by long unending lines but it doesn’t seem to bother our Ministers in Government and even our President. It doesn’t bother them because they are not the ones standing in the lines for hours and days. Real leadership is putting our people first before ourselves. If this new voucher initiative is called ‘’Because We Care’’ then our present administration should care about the long lines our people have to make to uplift the voucher at the schools and Western Union.
If we really care then it is my sincere hope that these issues I have raised here will be addressed by the Ministry of Education and our administration.
Illiteracy among adults is another growing phenomenon in Guyana that really slowed up the sharing of the vouchers since hundreds of parents can’t sign their names. What we need is a more comprehensive plan to distribute these vouchers in the coming years if it’s still in place.
Rev.Gideon Cecil

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A better system needed to share because we care vouchers

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