What qualification does one need to contribute/discuss/debate issues of national importance?

Jun 09, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

I usually ignore politicians who demonstrate absurdity when they speak or write. However, I am hard-pressed to respond to a politician or someone who appears to be a politician within, Mr. Shawn Simmons – whose letter was carried in Kaieteur News on June 5, 2021.
Mr. Simmons, instead of contributing in any meaningful and substantive manner to the debate or the subject matter – he instead sought to question my credentials. Mr. Simmons appeared to have enquired as to who I am and what qualifications I hold and from his description – he visited my LinkedIn profile as well. But if he so did, I am wondering why was he dishonest to state that he did not find which university (ies) I studied with, or maybe it was a case where he did not look thoroughly; or he was being deliberately mischievous – which would not be surprising given who he seems to be.
So, for Mr. Simmon’s information and whatever its worth, I did my first Master’s Degree with Edinburgh Napier University, which is ranked (globally) in the top five percent World University Rankings or in the top 100. It is also among the top 10 universities for graduate employability in the United Kingdom. I studied with the University of Cambridge as well, which has global rankings. In addition, if my credentials were not authentic – I would not have been awarded a US$5,000 tuition waiver sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank to participate in an Executive Training Course in Macro-financial policymaking in emerging economies with another highly prestigious university in the United States, Columbia University. I am currently doing another Masters in Accounting and Finance through London School of International Business and the University of Chichester, another university of international standing – ranked among the top 30 universities in the United Kingdom (national rankings produced by the Guardian University Guide, 2021).
With respect to my PhD studies, I am doing a PhD in development studies concurrently through published works with Edinburgh Napier University, a route to a PhD available only to employees and alumnus of the university. I should mention, too, that last year I participated in an international academic conference (my first international academic publication) with the West East Institute (WEI) International Academic Conferences on Business, Education, and Social Sciences, which is held annually at the Harvard University Faculty Club in Boston. The paper I presented was published in the Journal of WEI Business and Economics (this is an annual international academic conference, which I intend to participate every year going forward and have my work published in the WEI Journal of Business and Economics).
Having said that, Mr. Simmons is out of his depths because one does not need a specific qualification to contribute, comment, discuss or critically analyse any issue of national importance. Further, I am well aware of the profiles of the professors whose writings I have challenged and like I usually tell my students, to be a critical thinker, one has to have a mind of their own and ought to be able to examine critically complex issues. Not because someone is regarded as distinguished and holds five degrees it means what they say is gospel. It doesn’t work like that.
Finally, the fact that Mr. Simmon’s did not address my argument in any meaningful and substantive manner is not an unusual style by Guyanese politicians of a certain political entity. In other words, it is not an unusual practice by some politicians in Guyana that when they do not have anything of substance to say or contribute on an issue – they resort to attacking the person. Look at the quality of the budget (2020 & 2021) debates in the National Assembly, for example.

Yours faithfully,
J.C. Bhagwandin

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