Reclaiming the $10,000 voucher

Apr 15, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
Ever so often the Government would boast about its input within the education sector. However that can be far from the truth. I have a child who attends the Enmore Hope Primary School who came home to me one day telling me that his teacher was asking for a donation to purchase a water dispenser for the class.
I have no problem making such a contribution because to my knowledge at some point my child will also benefit from the water dispenser. I decided to pay my child’s class teacher a visit since I became concerned about the sudden need for a water dispenser.
What my child’s teacher told me came as a total surprise. I was told that the school was visited by officials of the Ministry of Education who instructed that every class be equipped with a water dispenser and water.
Do the Maths for thirty children in a class; a minimum of two five-gallon bottles per a day. I was further told by the teacher that when the issue of financial capabilities by parents was raised with the Education officials the teachers were told to approach business persons in the village for financial assistance.
This is tantamount to begging. Bad talk the late President L.F.S. Burnham but under his leadership there was free education from nursery to tertiary. Schools are now being forced to hold fund-raising activities so as to purchase stationary and teachers have been reduced to beggars, yet the M.o.E would receive a huge chunk from our annual budget.
Is it that the Ministry of Educaton is not getting the entire amount of monies that it requested or is it that someone is deliberately misappropriating the funds?
It seems as though the government gave out the ten thousand dollars voucher in one hand and is collecting it back with the other hand in the forms of fundraising and water dispensers.
Randy Persaud

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